


The Fifth

by ledger_quinn



Category: Preath, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, High School, Original Character(s), Sad, Slow Burn, USWNT, no soccer AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:00:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23382691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ledger_quinn/pseuds/ledger_quinn
Summary: Revenge. Justice. Darkness. Light. Secrets. Hope.The United States is under attack by a terrorist organization known as Pestis. Four individuals have been chosen to gain abilities to be able to fight this force before they take over. Meanwhile, Tobin Heath is living a normal life, trying to leave her past behind her. After a traumatizing event, Tobin goes down a path that will test both herself and the people around her.Will Tobin fight her darkest self, or embrace her? Will Christen be able to save Tobin from herself before it's too late? And will the threat against the United States be neutralized? Or is there more to it than that?
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! First time posting, so go easy(lol jk). I have the first 5 chapters written out, so I'll probably post 1 a day, then after that, I don't know. Since I'm in quarantine there will probably still be frequent updates haha. This will be a slow burn, and kind of sad, so be prepared. Hope you enjoy!

The halls are always buzzing in between periods, but today there’s a new energy that has been building up for the past month. As I walk down the hall, I hear snippets of the same video playing on everyone’s phones: “ _Rein is announcing The Four tonight at midnight, make sure to tune in!”, “Dr. Sauerbrunn says that the decision was a grueling process, and that it was very difficult…”, “The head of Rein is yet to be revealed…”._

_Why can’t we just go back to before all of this started, I’m tired of hearing about Rein and their stupid project,_ I think.

Before I turn the corner, Alex comes up behind me and swings her arm around my shoulders, Julie, Allie, and AD in tow. “Toby we’re hitting up the shops after school today before the party and it is mandatory that you come this time,” Alex says with a small pout.

“First of all, I told you I don’t like that name,” I said, taking her arm off of me.

“Second of all, I have plans with Glennon and Abby today.”

“C’mon Tobin, you can’t just hang out with us during school and then be MIA once the bell rings, I need as much input as possible for my outfit tonight, Servando’s friends said he would be there.”

“Alex, if Servando is talking to his friends and not his girlfriend, then maybe that’s telling you something,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Alex looks at me, mock offense written all over her face.

“See Toby, that’s why I need you, you’re honest, unlike these idiots who just agree with everything I say.”

“Hey!” said Allie. “It’s not my fault we have a similar taste in clothes.”

“Whatever,” said Alex. “See you after school,” she says, kissing my cheek and turning in the other direction towards her class, the others following. 

“Wait, Alex! I said I had. . . plans,” I finish after I know she can’t hear me, or is just choosing not to. Sighing, I continue walking to English, seeing everyone’s eyes still glued to their phones. Well, almost everyone.

Turning into my classroom, I see Christen Press subtly staring at me from her locker. _Stalker much?_

* * *

  
  


_This was a bad idea_ , I think as Alex is dragging me through the city to find any boutique that “has something that wouldn’t make Serv immediately break up with me when he sees me.”

Every jumbotron we come across while pushing through the throngs of people is playing the same news station, highlighting the same story over and over again. _“Dr. Sauerbrunn will be announcing The Four tonight on live TV.”_

Julie points out a small shop with designer clothes, and we all pile in excitedly. As we browse the racks, the radio plays the news softly in the background. “How were your trials guys? I just realized we never talked about it, well no one really talks about it because everyone did so horribly, but now that we are finding out who won tonight then I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore.” says AD.

For the past year, the United States has been under attack by terrorists known as Pestis. They have been hacking major organizations and creating mass destruction. They are kind of a mystery to most people though. What they really do, who they are, and what their motive is is unknown to the public. All we know is that they’re dangerous, more dangerous than the military can handle, and that they need to be stopped. Rein was created once Pestis’s threat became clear. The head of Rein is unknown, but the spokesperson, Becky Sauerbrunn, promoted their goal to defeat Pestis. To do this, they have created a serum that will give a select four people abilities based on their personalities, which will help the United States defeat the terrorists. Dr. Sauerbrunn was only able to make enough serum for four people because it was too dangerous to make any more for fear that it would fall into the wrong hands. Anyone between the ages of 16 to 20 was allowed to take the trial, or the test that would determine if you were fit to gain these abilities and help the country(a lot to ask of a bunch of teens in my opinion, but whatever). The Doc said that the serum would only work with the brain developed in a certain way, which is why only that age group could apply for the trial. The trial consisted of tests of health as well as physical, mental, and emotional strength. The tests were grueling, a couple people even ended up in the hospital, but it was “necessary for the safety of the country.” Rein’s headquarters is set up in my city, which is why it is all anyone ever talks about here. The attacks have been more on the east coast, so they set up headquarters here, so almost everyone in school has taken a trial. And after weeks of deliberation, they have finally come to a decision on who our four “saviors” will be.

“Oh my God, my trial was _terrible_ ,” Alex sighed dramatically. “The health test was scary because of all the needles and stuff, and then I basically gave up after the first physical test,” she said laughing, eying an expensive-looking blood-red dress. 

“Yeah, I finished the physical tests but the mental ones were so hard, and I failed the physical ones anyway so it didn’t really matter,” Julie chimed in. 

“I had a cold during my trial, so they didn’t even let me try,” Allie laughed with a hint of disappointment. “What about you, Tobs?” She asks me, facing me from above the clothing rack.

“Um. . . I. . .” I began. Everyone in the group was looking at me now. _Perfect._

“I. . .didn’t take the trail,” I admitted sheepishly.

“ _What,_ why?” Alex exclaimed.

“I don’t know, I just don’t want the responsibility I guess, and it’s not like they would have picked me anyway, there was no point,” I said nonchalantly, pretending to be interested in the dresses for the first time today.

“Yeah but. . . why don’t we just try on these dresses, right ladies?” Alex said, the tension evident. Allie looks at me skeptically, but follows Alex into the changing rooms, me slowly trailing behind.

Anyone that was eligible took the test, especially in our city because Rein is located here. The few who didn’t take it are looked down upon, no matter if it’s obvious they wouldn’t have been picked or not. Pestis has really been scaring people lately, especially with the threats of bombing certain hospitals on the east coast, so everyone is expected to do whatever they can to help, the minimum being taking the trial. I know I’ve disappointed my friends, but they are trying not to show it, which I’m thankful for. I would never tell anyone the real reason I didn’t take it, which is that I don’t trust Rein. Just something about it rubs me the wrong way, and I just find the whole thing kinda sketchy. I wouldn’t want to be injected with whatever the hell is in that serum, and I am perfectly fine with never having to find out.

“How about this one, Tobin?” Alex asks, twirling in the red dress.

“Perfect Lex.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, let's go now.”

“What, no, you have to try something on Tobs, we need to get you a boyfriend and this party is the perfect opportunity for some action.”

“Unless Press finally makes a move,” Julie chimes in from a dressing room a few doors down.

“What are you talking about,” I asked, laughing nervously.

“She’s obviously into you, she’s always staring at you, kinda creepy if I’m being honest.”

“Yeah what’s the deal with you guys, didn’t you used to hang out,” asks Alex as she goes to change back into her clothes.

“Um. . . yeah, we used to. That’s over now though,” I said quietly. 

Closing my eyes, I try to stop the flood of memories that come to the surface. Even just hearing her name reminds me of everything. The group keeps talking about Christen, saying how she has no friends and that it’s a shame that she is the way that she is because she’s attractive enough to be in our group. 

I want to tell them to shut up, _none of you know shit about Christen_ , but instead, I grab the dress from Alex as she’s exiting the dressing room and bring it up to the front to be paid for. “Hey, Tobin, you still need to-” “I have clothes at home, and I promised Glennon and Abby that I would be home by 7, so we’re leaving,” I say angrily. 

After the clothes are paid for, we walk back to the car, the streets buzzing with excitement for the announcement tonight. Alex is rambling about Servando and how he is totally gonna regret ghosting her when he sees her tonight, everyone nodding along in agreement. I’m zoned out though, stuck in my thoughts, so I don’t notice the girl until she bumps into my shoulder.

“Hey!” I call out to the girl. She ignores me though, walking calmly in the other direction.

“People can be so rude,” Julie says, rolling her eyes. 

“Agreed,” says Alex. “Let’s drop Tobin off first because she’s the closest, and we’ll just meet at your apartment because the party is in your building, sound good Tobs?” 

“What…,” I said, still zoned out. Allie looks at me worriedly, and I snap out of it. “Oh, um, yeah sounds good,” I say, not really knowing what I’m agreeing to. 

“Great,” says Alex as we walk through the doors of my apartment building. “Hey Mac, what’s up?” Alex says loudly to the doorman, giving him a fist pump.

I look at him with a look that says _sorry_. He gives me a small smile.

Mac and I first formed a relationship when I sleepwalked all the way down to the lobby one night. I was super stressed after moving in with Glennon and Abby from the group home, so I was sleepwalking regularly. I don’t remember what happened, but he said he led me right back to the apartment through the elevator, where we met a frantic Abby at the doors of the elevator on my floor. Abby told Mac about my situation, and ever since he has been protective over me, and Abby and Glennon have a newfound trust for him.

We step into the elevator and ride it to the 17th floor. Once we get there, Alex bounces to my door. 

“I’m so excited for tonight Tobin. We are gonna get you a man!”

“Uh huh,” I reply, unlocking the door with my card.

“Hi Glennon, hi Abby!” Alex waves. They smile and say hi back, then go back to whatever they are doing. “See you later Tobs!” Alex squeals, giving me a kiss on the cheek. Julie and AD say bye too, and follow Alex down the hall. 

Allie looks back at our friends, and when she is content with how far away they are, she turns to me. “I know you weren’t listening before, but you agreed to invite us to your house before the party, just thought you should know,” Allie says sheepishly. “Oh, ugh okay, thanks Allie,” I say, giving her a hug. 

“Bye Tobin, see you tonight!” Alex and the others scream in the hallway as I close the door.

I lean my back against the door and lower myself to the floor. Glennon and Abby look at each other, and Glennon comes over to me, crouching down. 

“Is everything okay, Tobin,” she asks softly. I give her an unconvincing smile. “Yeah. . . just exhausted.” 

“Understandable, those girls are nuts,” Abby chimes in with a smirk. Glennon takes my hands and pulls me up, leading me through the narrow hallway into the open kitchen. 

The apartment has a modern feel, with granite countertops and a gray and blue color scheme. It’s very homey though, with pictures of us on the walls and the rugs, blankets, and pillows that scream Glennon with their crazy patterns and textures. My favorite part of the apartment, though, is the big windows surrounding the kitchen, flooding our home with natural light.

I lean my elbows on the table, watching Glennon singing along to the radio as Abby twirls her. They knock over Abby’s notes for the college soccer team she is coaching, papers scattering everywhere. 

I burst out laughing, Abby and Glennon laughing along with me. _This is what happiness feels like_. 

We’re picking up the papers when the song abruptly changes to a news channel. “ _Tonight is the night folks, the reveal we have all been waiting for is finally here. This is the first step in the right direction in stopping Pestis-”_

Abby turns the radio off. “I. Have. Heard. Enough of that shit. It’s all they ever talk about,” Abby says stacking the papers back into their neat pile.

Glennon hums in agreement while I grab the bag of Chinese food off the counter and bring it over to the couch.

I sit down in front of the couch instead of on it, and Glennon and Abby join me on either side. This has become our thing ever since I got here one year ago. I would refuse to eat with them at the table, but they refused to let me go to my room and wouldn’t let me eat on the couch, so I just sat on the floor leaning against the couch. Glennon and Abby, much to my dismay at the time, would sit on either side of me to try to connect with me and help me get comfortable with them. And now it’s our thing, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

We mostly sat in silence, occasionally commenting on the food and talking about our day. Glennon clears her throat and looks down during a lull in conversation. “Tobin, have you thought about seeing Dr. Krieger lately?”

Dr. Krieger is the counselor at school. I used to see her at least once a week, sometimes two or three times if things weren’t going well. I haven’t been for a few months, though. Things are finally good, for the most part.

“Um. . . no. I haven’t really thought about it. Why?”

“Well it seems like you're doing well, but it’s always good to check in.”

“Yeah but I don’t need her anymore,” I say, getting defensive.

“Tobin, there are always things to talk about. I already told her you were coming. Can you please make an effort to go once a month? For us?”

“I guess,” I reluctantly reply, standing up. “Alex, Allie, AD, and Julie are meeting me here and we’re gonna hang out tonight, so I’m just gonna go get ready now.”

I throw my plate out and lock myself in my room. I know I’m overreacting, but I can’t help it. I’m finally feeling better, can’t they just stop worrying? 

I sigh, frustrated, and open my closet to pick out my outfit for tonight. 

This is gonna be interesting.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what to say except here's chapter 2!

I walk out of my room into the living room about 10 minutes later, finding Glennon and Abby in the same place I left them. As soon as I calmed down, I felt bad for snapping at them. They are the only people who really care about me, or really ever cared about me.

“Hey guys, I’m leaving, but I just wanted to say sorry for earlier, you’re right, it’s good to check in.”

“Aw Tob. You’re forgiven. Now go have fun but be safe please,” Glennon says.

“Yeah not too much fun though,” Abby says, smirking.

I roll my eyes and walk out the door. I decided to just meet my friends outside of the apartment because I don’t know that Abby and Glennon are such big fans of the girls. I’m not sure I am either.

“Toby! Oh my God, you look hot!” Alex squeals. She runs from the elevator and squeezes the life out of me, the other girls awkwardly standing behind. 

I look over Alex’s shoulder at Allie and give her a small smile. If there is anyone I tolerate in this group, it’s her.

“Yeah Tobs, you look good,” says AD, slightly pulling at my white shirt. They scan the rest of my outfit, made up of black ripped jeans, a white shirt, a black leather jacket, black boots, and a red and black flannel tied around my waist with my hair down.

“Thanks guys, you do too,” I say, eying their short, colorful dresses and thick makeup.

Alex links arms with me, and we all walk to the elevator together. We ride it up to the 23rd floor and are greeted with loud bass and people laughing from the apartment down the hall.

Julie opens the door, tripling the sounds we heard from the hall. Alex immediately leaves me to find Servando, Julie goes to find Zack, and AD leaves to find Emily. Allie squeezes my shoulder apologetically before going to find Bati.

I push through the throngs of people, just wanting to find something to drink.

I’ve never liked parties. Before hanging with Alex and the group, I was never really social. I really only hung out with one person.

_Christen_.

She’s leaning against the counter with a cup in her hand, staring at her heels while people push past her. Even though I shouldn’t, I allow myself to look at her for a second.

She’s wearing a high-waisted black skirt with a skin-tight, elbow-length red shirt, complete with strappy black heels, natural makeup, and straightened hair.

_Woah_ , I think.

_Get it together Heath, you cut her off, remember?_

I look away from her, looking for something else to do since she’s near the drinks.

Luckily, Alex saves me, grabbing my shoulder from behind with one hand and shoving a drink at me with the other. “Where’s Servando? I thought I wouldn’t see you for the rest of the night.”

“He’s not here,” she says, looking like she’s about to cry. “I looked everywhere! They said he would be here, Tobin! Why isn’t he here? I just-”

I set my drink down and gather her in my arms. She’s dramatic as hell but I still kinda feel bad. I knew Servando was an asshole from the beginning, but I never told Alex that. I couldn’t afford to.

“Maybe we should leave Lex. . .” I begin, happy to find an excuse to get out of here, especially before Christen sees me.

_Now that I think about it, why is she even here? Chris never goes to parties._

“No,” she said defiantly. “I am not gonna let him ruin my night. I am going to drink, dance, and find a guy who gives a shit about me,” she says, leaving me alone again.

* * *

Everyone has fun for a few more hours, but the announcement at midnight is constantly in the back of everyone’s minds. 

Lex has spent her time trying to push boys at me that didn’t want to make out with her because they are scared of Servando. I kept telling her to stop, but Alex being Alex, especially a drunk Alex, will never stop.

I’ve been taking subtle glances at Christen throughout the night. She has barely moved the whole night, only leaving her spot at the counter to go to the bathroom. We made eye contact once, but I looked away quickly before I could see her reaction.

Alex is in the middle of pressuring me to approach this guy from my Spanish class when we’re thankfully interrupted by the TV with the volume all the way up. People immediately stop talking and gather around the TV. I hang back, not as invested as everyone else. That was a mistake though, because I should have known Christen would hang back too.

“Tobin?” I hear a small voice behind me, and a tap on my shoulder. I close my eyes and turn around.

“Christen.”

“Look, Tobin, I think we should talk-”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Chris. Please leave me alone.”

“Tobin, please, I don’t even know what I-”

“Can you not do this right now,” I say with more of a bite in my voice.

“Just. . . I just wanna make sure you're okay.”

_What?_

“What? Yeah I’m perfect, jeez. I’m going to sit with Alex,” I say, leaving a dejected Christen in my wake.

I push past people to get to the front, and sit on the floor in between Alex and Allie. The broadcast finally starts, and everyone shushes each other.

“ _Alright everyone, the moment you’ve been waiting for,”_ the broadcaster says. _“Here’s Dr. Sauerbrunn with the reveal.”_

The broadcast room changes to an impressive looking facility with sparkling wooden floors, high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows that reveal the city’s skyline, and soft blue lights coating the room, giving it a calm yet eerie feel. And none other than Becky Sauerbrunn is standing in the middle of the room, mic in hand.

_“Thank you, Dom,”_ the Doc begins. _“I am currently standing in the lobby of Rein’s brand-new training facility, and it’s beautiful, so a big thanks to everyone who contributed to the building of it. Now, this has been a stressful process for everyone: us, the trial takers, and the people whose lives are being affected by Pestis. Thankfully, though, the wait is finally over. We have selected four highly-qualified individuals to protect us from this threat. They will be injected with the serum two weeks from today after they prepare their bodies for the shock of the serum. This is a very exciting time, and it is about time we fight back against this evil. Don’t forget who made our future victory possible.”_

The camera follows the Doc as she leaves her spot to stand in front of four people, anonymous from the lack of light shining on them.

_“Here they are, people. Your future heroes!”_ She steps aside as the members of The Four step into the light.

_“May I introduce Ashlyn Harris, Kelley O’Hara, Megan Rapinoe, and-”_

_No fucking way,_ I think, my jaw dropping to the floor.

_“-Servando Carrasco!”_

“OH MY GOD. NO FUCKING WAY,” Alex screams, getting up and standing right in front of the TV. No one stops her or complains that she’s in the way; everyone is too much in shock to do that.

“Oh baby, I _knew_ you could do it! Oh my gosh, I love you so much,” she cries, wiping her tears with a smile on her face.

I try to get up, try to congratulate Alex, try to playfully tease her about hating him like a minute ago, but I can’t. I’m stuck to the floor. The room feels like it's tilting, and I’m light-headed.

_What the hell? I didn’t even drink that much._

I finally stand. I see Christen eying me from her spot in the back. I turn to leave but she intercepts me before I can make it to the door.

“Tobin, are you okay?” she asks worriedly.

“Yeah, I-, I just had too much to drink, I. . . I gotta go,” I say quickly, rushing out.

I don’t know why I suddenly feel so uneasy. Like something’s wrong, but it’s driving me crazy that I don’t know what it is. 

Thankful that home is only a few levels down, I lean against the wall in the elevator, close my eyes and take a deep breath.

I don’t know what triggered it, but I haven’t felt this edgy in a long time.

* * *

“Morning,” Abby says with a chuckle as I trudge into the kitchen, looking through the fridge with my eyes half closed.

“Need some Advil?” she asks, the smirk never leaving her face.

“What? No, I-”

“I know you went to a party yesterday, Tobin. On a school night, really?”

“You were the one that let me go,” I pointed out, taking a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Yeah well we trust you, and I thought the morning after with you would be funny, and I was right, so. . .”

“Yeah yeah, whatever. I gotta go. Love you.”

“Don’t forget about your appointment with Dr. Krieger. Love you too.”

I ride the elevator to the lobby, stopping in front of Mac’s desk, thankful to have him to talk to every morning. Sometimes his persuasion is the only thing that convinces me to go to school when I’m on the fence about walking through the revolving doors.

“So, how was the party last night?”

“Oh my God, you too?” I say groaning.

“What, you don’t think I know, I know everything that goes on in this place.”

“Then why didn’t you stop it?”

He shrugs. “I know the party was for the Four reveal. As long as you guys weren’t breaking any building property, who am I to stop that?”

At the mention of The Four, my stomach drops. _I can’t believe Servando is part of The Four. But shouldn’t I be happy for him? Why do I feel like this?_

“Don’t worry, nothing was broken. . . that you need to worry about,” I say teasingly. “Sorry Mac, I gotta go or I’m gonna be late.”

“You _are_ going to school right? Not somewhere dark and quiet to help you get over that hangover?” he says laughing.

“Yeah I’m going to school, but now the dark, quiet janitor’s closet is where I will be spending the day, so thanks for the idea,” I joke, waving behind my back as I exit the building.

His cheery laugh is the last thing I hear before the crisp fall air hits my face.

* * *

A few classes into the day, I slowly make my way to Dr. Krieger’s office.

_For Glennon and Abby, for Glennon and Abby,_ I chant in my head.

I tell the man at the front desk my name, and he tells me I can go right in.

Dr. Krieger is sitting at her desk typing on her laptop when I come in.

“Tobin,” she greets with a smile. “Please sit.”

“Glennon requested that I meet with you. What’s been going on lately?”

“Nothing, they just wanted me to check in. Things have been good, so there’s nothing to really talk about.”

“How about college? Still looking into that art school?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about Rhode Island School of Design maybe, I don’t know.”

“That’s a good goal, requires good grades.”

“. . . yeah.”

“Do Glennon and Abby support your interest in art school?”

“Yeah, they’re really supportive, almost too much actually,” I laugh.

“That’s great. The last time we talked, you said you were comfortable with them. Is that still true?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t ask for anyone better than them. I’m really happy with them, more than anyone else I’ve lived with.”

“So if they asked you if you wanted to be adopted by them, what would you say?”

“Yes. Yeah, I would definitely say yes.”

“How about friends? Have you made any new friends lately?”

“Not really new, no, just the same ones that I told you about last time.”

She frowns. “How do you feel about them? I know last time you told me you’re not sure if you fit well with them.”

Now it’s my turn to frown. “No, I love them, they’re great. I totally fit in with them. I couldn’t dream about greater people to hang out with.” _Lies lies lies._

“Okay, but-”

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Of course. Is there something that’s bothering you?”

“Um, I guess. . . it’s about The Four. . .,” I start. Maybe she can tell me why I feel so edgy about it. “I don’t know, whenever I hear anything about, I just feel, I don’t know, worried? Like, I should be happy right? I should especially be happy for Alex because her boyfriend is one of them, but I just feel. . . worried.”

“Well that might just be the reason why you’re so nervous. You don’t want Alex to get hurt. Maybe you’re even worried about Servando getting hurt. It’s good that you feel this way, that means you care about them.”

“Yeah, but. . .” _That’s not it._

The bell rings. I abruptly stand. “Um, yeah, thanks Dr. Krieger. See you next month,” I say, abruptly leaving. “Don’t forget you can come earlier if-” I shut the door before she could finish.

* * *

I take a breath of relief once I sit in the back of my math class for the last period of the day. I like this class because none of my friends are in it, so I can freely talk to this girl Alyssa that sits next to me. We aren’t really that close, but maybe that’s the reason why it’s easy to talk to her. We just talk about how we hate math and what we are doing over break. 

That’s all I need. Easy conversation. No expectations.

I smile at her, and she opens her mouth to say something but gets interrupted by Mrs. Dunn slapping a paper on my desk.

“Heath, you need to come for extra help. This is the third straight test you’ve failed.”

Mrs. Dunn always acts tough with me, but I know she just does it for show. I think she worries about me sometimes.

I flip the page over to see a big “F” written on it in red marker. Before I can reply, she just says “You, me, tutoring. Today,” and walks away. Alyssa and I snicker. 

I try to focus during class, but I can’t. Fortunately, I’m not the only one. Everyone is constantly staring at Servando’s empty seat in the front, so much so that Mrs. Dunn has to stand in front of it while teaching. 

The fact that Christen has been staring at me for the whole hour isn’t really helping either. I decide to just put my head down and take a nap. _No point in trying with_ her _eyes on me, besides, I’m already failing anyway._

I meet Alex and the group outside the classroom once the bell rings. She’s sporting the cocky grin she's had on ever since her boyfriend became world-famous instead of just school-famous. 

“Tobs, oh my gosh, today has been absolutely crazy, everyone is just like staring at me or wants to talk to me, I mean, I’m used to it, but this is just a whole new level.”

“Yeah that or they are purposefully trying not to look at you,” Allie says.

“Yeah did you see that one kid that Servando doesn’t like? He was literally staring at the wall while walking past us and hit into someone and fell, it was so funny!” Julie says.

“Seriously though, it’s crazy.” AD adds.

“Yeah, super crazy,” I reply, trying not to sound sarcastic.

“Tobs, we’re crashing at my house-”

“Can’t, I have tutoring with Mrs. Dunn after school today, and you can’t get me out of this one.”

“Aw, okay, see you later Toby. Love you,” Alex says, not leaving before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

_I have never been more grateful for a teacher in my entire life._

* * *

I enter the house, closing the door loudly to let Glennon and Abby know I’m home. Sometimes when I come home when they don’t expect me to, I walk in on stuff that I will never unsee.

“Hey guys,” I call out.

“Hey Tobin, in the kitchen.”

I walk in to meet the stressed couple, Glennon with her head on the computer keys and Abby throwing another wad of paper on the floor. “Woah guys, you good?”

“Yes, now that you’re here,” Glennon says, standing up. She gives me a big hug and rocks me back and forth. I chuckle. Abby eventually joins in on the hug.

“Okay, what is going on?”

“We’re just stressed, we need you.”

“Yeah Tobs, I need some help with these formations, a new set of eyes.”

“Sorry guys, believe it or not, I’m meeting with Mrs. Dunn at the library for tutoring. She’s kinda forcing me to or else I’ll fail so. . .”

“Well I’m glad you’re making an effort. Even if you haven’t been making an effort up until this point.”

“Yeah kid, you need good grades to get into Rhode Island,” Abby says, giving me a noogie.

“Ow, okay, okay,” I say, pulling away with a laugh.

“We are at least having dinner as a family tonight, we can’t go too long without seeing you.”

“Okay, can’t wait, just let me get changed and then I gotta get out of here.”

“Okay sweetie.”

I go to my room and look through my draws until I find my comfortable black joggers, gray sweatshirt, black sneakers, and a snapback. The group would literally disown me if they saw me wear something like this at school, so I always change the second I get home.

I leave my room and grab my backpack, giving Glennon and Abby a hug on the way out. 

“We love you Tobin.”

“Love you guys, too.”

* * *

“What’s the formula?”

“I. . . have no idea.”

“C’mon Tobin, I know you know this, I write it on the board every day. You can’t be that oblivious.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Mrs. Dunn is in the middle of writing the formula on the top of my paper when I get a call.

“No phone please Tobin, we only have 20 minutes left.”

I take one quick second to look at the caller ID and see that Glennon is calling me. “My guardian is calling me and she knows I’m here, she wouldn’t call unless it was important, it’ll just be a sec.”

“Fine, but make it quick.”

I get up and walk in the hallway to take the call. “Hello?”

“Tobin?” Glennon asks timidly.

“Yeah, Glennon, is everything okay?”

“Tobin, we love you so much, please don’t come ho-” 

“Glennon? Glennon?! Hello?!” The last thing I hear is Abby’s screaming before the call cuts out.

_Oh my God. Oh my God oh my God oh my God._

I’m about to run when Mrs. Dunn grabs my arm. “Tobin, hey, hey, just breathe, what’s wrong?”

I rip my arm from her grasp and just start running, not answering her.

The library is close enough to my apartment that I walked there, so now I’m springing home as fast as I can. I run past Mac’s desk, barely registering that he’s on his dinner break and is never behind the desk this time of day.

I sprint up the stairs, tears blurring my vision. When I finally reach my door, I scream out Glennon and Abby’s names while fumbling for my keycard. _Shit, I left it in my backpack in the library, fuck fuck fuck._

I resort to just banging on the door and screaming. _The police. I should call the police_. 

I dial 911 and am about to press call when the door opens. 

I look up, hoping to see the happy couple, only to be met with a masked man covering my mouth with a gloved hand and pulling me inside.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. Things are about to get real.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!! This chapter has a MAJOR trigger warning. If you are sensitive to things like kidnapping or homicide, please do not read. There is a short summary at the end notes.  
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_What the fuck is happening?_

I’m being dragged through the hall to the kitchen. The man’s hand is still over my mouth. I’m screaming, but it’s muffled.

More muffled screaming. This time, it’s not me though. I look up.

The curtains are drawn, making everything dark. Glennon and Abby are tied to chairs by their hands and legs, duct tape over their mouths.

I’m thrown into a seat across from them, the assailant finally taking his hand from my mouth to tie me up.

“Abby. . . Glennon. . . what’s going on,” I cry.

I try to scream for help, but the other man in the room points his gun at me. “Scream and you die.”

Abby and Glennon scream unintelligible things at him; he just smirks.

Assailant 1 finishes tying me up, and stands in front of my while ripping another piece of tape from the tape roll. “Don’t you dare fucking-guys!, Please, Abby-” I’m cut off by the tape put over my mouth.

“Finally,” Assailant 2 says. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“You both know what you’ve done, and you knew the consequences, but you went ahead and did it anyway. You have a daughter for fucks sake,” Assailant 1 says, facing the couple. “We warned you, we _threatened_ you! Still, you didn’t listen to us. Your daughter doesn’t know what you guys actually do, does she?”

Glennon and Abby both make eye contact with each other, then with me. I don’t see guilt in their eyes though, just fear.

“Oh my God, she doesn’t?” he says, looking back and forth between us. “Well, of course she doesn’t, your lives are based around lies and deception. Well, your lives _were_ based around lies and deception. Now they are going to end. And your daughter is going to watch.”

All three of us are screaming through the tape, Glennon and I making eye contact while Abby is screaming at them.

Assailant 1 nods at Assailant 2, who walks around the back of Glennon’s chair. 

I’m still screaming, tear tracks running down my cheeks and over the tape.

“I’m gonna take the tape off of both of you, and if you scream, you die, got it?” he asks, looking between Glennon and I. I hang my head, but nod yes.

He takes mine off first, the Glennon’s.

“Baby, Tobin baby, look at me.” I look up to Glennon’s red eyes.

She smiles. “Do you know how proud we are of you? I love you so much baby.”

“Mom, please don’t talk like that, please don’t- don’t say that.”

“Ever since we saw you, we knew you were the one for us. And you made our lives so much brighter. You saved us Tobin.”

“I love you mom, please don’t leave. I need you,” I cry.

“No you don’t baby. You don’t need us. Live your life. Be happy. That’s all we ever wanted.”

The attacker positions the gun on the back of her head.

“No. NO STOP PLEASE!” I yell.

“I love you Toby.” That’s the last thing she said to me before the silenced gun went off.

I don’t have any time to mourn because the assailant quickly moves on to Abby and rips the tape off her.

“GLENNON!” she cries. “HOW COULD YOU,” she turns to them. She looks at me.

“Sweetie, don’t let this ruin you. You have to fight. Don’t let them take your light. The light Glennon and I fell in love with.”

“Mom, why is this happening. Why are they taking you from me? Please don’t leave.”

“I don’t know baby-”

“Still lying,” Assailant 1 says.

“SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK TO MY DAUGHTER,” Abby screams at him. She turns back to me.

“Mom, I love you. You saved me. You saved me, I can’t live without you, please.”

“Sweetie, look at me. We love you, never forget that. You are strong. You can and will get past this.”

“No, mom, please. . .” He places the gun at the back of her head.

“MOM,” I scream.

“Toby, we never-” She doesn’t get it finish. 

“NO! Oh my God oh. . . oh my God.”

I close my eyes and hang my head while I cry, not able to look at them.

The assailants look at me, then each other.

“What do we do with her,” Assailant 2 asks quietly.

Assailant 1 looks for me for a long time while I cry quietly.

“Leave her, we don’t need any more blood on our hands. She won’t be able to tell them anything that will give our identities away, anyway.”

I look up at them, hatred clouding my vision. I hate to admit it, but they’re right. The only distinctive things I can tell the police is that they are men and are both about 6 feet with deep voices. They are dressed in all black and have on gloves and masks. It’s hopeless.

The kidnappers start moving towards the door. I look into the eyes of one of them. I don’t see hate, or indifference, or happiness. I see sympathy. _Fucking pathetic._

As they’re leaving, I try to reach towards them, but just fall over, still trapped in the chair. One of them decides to put the tape back on my mouth as an afterthought, and they silently leave.

I’m gonna pass out. 

I need to get help.

Is this really happening?

The last thing I see before blacking out is my parents' eyes staring at me from their spots on the floor.

* * *

  
  


I wake up a couple hours later, not knowing where I am or what’s happening.

_Why can’t I move? What is-_

I look over to my parents, and immediately start to cry.

This goes on for a couple more hours until I’m numb. Their blank faces met with my blank face.

_I need to get out of here._

I can’t scream because of the tape, and I can’t move.

_Phone, where’s my phone?_

I vaguely remember the assailant taking it from me and placing it on the table before tying me up.

I use my arms and legs as best as I could to position my legs near the leg of the table. Then I kick the table leg as hard as I can, but nothing happens. I take my frustration out on it before I finally get enough power to knock it down. The tabletop lands on my stomach, and I let out a yell. 

Tears stream down my face from the impact, but I keep going.

I don’t know where my phone landed, but it has to be somewhere close. I inch backward until I’m able to see it peeking out from under the counter. 

After lots of effort and pain, I manage to get my phone in between my tied hands.

Now for the really hard part.

I inch away from the table towards the full length mirror in the living room. After about 30 minutes, I finally position myself with my back to the mirror. Straining my neck, I look over my shoulder so I can see my phone screen. _Okay, progress._

I don’t know how much time goes by when I finally get to my contact list and click on my third speed dial.

After the fifth ring, he finally picks up.

“Hello?” Mac asks.

With the tape still over my mouth, I scream as loud as I can, hoping he can hear it and realize that something’s wrong.

“Tobin? I can’t hear you.” I scream again.

“Tobin, are you okay?” I continue, willing myself not to break down and cry just yet.

“I coming up to the apartment. Hold on okay? God I hope you’re there. I’m not hanging up, okay?”

I finally allow myself to cry, but they are tears of relief this time.

After only about one minute, I hear Mac let himself in with his keycard. He starts screaming before the door even closes.

“Oh my God, holy shit holy shit, oh my God.” He takes his eyes away from Glennon and Abby and pins them on me. “Oh my God, Tobin. Don’t worry buddy. Don’t worry, I’m here, okay?”

I nod, and he takes the tape off of my mouth. “Fuck, finally,” I laugh for a split-second before going back to sobbing.

It takes Mac about 10 minutes to fully free me, then we hug and cry together on the floor.

“Toby, Tobs, you gotta tell me what happened. Shit, I gotta call the police.”

He calls the police while I scoot back to the wall, pulling my knees up to my chest.

“Okay, okay, they’re on their way.” He kneels and puts his hands on my knees. “Tobin, do you think you could tell me what happened?”

I’m feeling super light-headed and dizzy, so I can’t really focus on what he’s saying. 

“Tobin, please say something,” Mac cries.

I pass out as I hear multiple pairs of boots run into the apartment and Mac screaming my name.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of chapter:  
> Tobin, Abby, and Glennon are captured by anonymous men in masks who accuse Abby and Glennon of having a secret life Tobin doesn't know about. They kill Abby and Glennon after letting them have their last conversations with Tobin. The assailants leave, and Tobin passes out. When she wakes, she calls Mac to help her get free from the chair she is trapped in. Tobin passes out again as the cops come.
> 
> Yes, I know, I'm sorry. I really didn't want to write this lol. Might update sooner than later because I don't like leaving it here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's chapter 4. Sorry, this one is a little short. I'm almost done posting my pre-written chapters, so hopefully I can still get chapters out as fast in the future. Enjoy!

I wake up in a white hospital room, the curtains drawn and the faint sounds of feet outside the big wooden door. 

My anxiety starts to spike, only slightly quelled by the sight of Mac sleeping in the chair beside the bed.

“Mac?” I ask quietly, feeling myself start to shake.

It takes a few more calls of his name to wake him up, but when he does, he immediately stands from the chair and crouches in front of the bed, taking my hand in his.

“It’s okay Toby, just breathe, you’re alright. Just breathe.” 

I notice his red eyes and somber expression. _So it wasn’t just a nightmare._

Just before I start panicking again, a doctor comes in.

“Hi Tobin, how are you feeling?”

I don’t answer, just stare at the sheets.

“You fainted, but we made sure that you didn’t have any more problems or anything wrong with your body that caused it. So. . . physically, you’re okay.”

I scoff. _Yeah, physically._

“There is a police officer here, Officer Sonnett, who would like to ask you some questions about what happened. Do you think you’ll be able to do that?"

I shrug and look at the sheets again.

“Tobin?” Mac squeezes my hand, encouraging me to at least give a yes or no answer.

“As long as Mac gets to stay,” I say, my voice hoarse from screaming.

The doctor smiles softly. “Of course, sweetie.”

We wait in silence for about five minutes until an exhausted looking Officer Sonnett walks in, gently closing the door behind her.

“Hi Tobin, I just came to talk to you about what you remember about what happened. It would be really helpful for us so we can find out who did this.”

“Um, okay.”

“So, walk me through what happened, starting from the beginning.”

“Well, um. . .” Mac gives my hand another squeeze of encouragement.

“I was getting tutored at the library by um, by Mrs. Dunn, and then, um, I got a call-” I choke up on the word “call”, but manage to continue. “And, um, it was my m-mom, and she sounded like she was in trouble, so I went back to the a-apartment, and these two guys were there in black and they-” I can’t go on anymore.

“And they what, Tobin,” Sonnett presses.

All of a sudden, I’m mad. “You know what, fuck this, I don’t have to tell you anything. You could have at least given me time to process, jeez.”

“I’m sor-”

“No, you know what, just get out,” I say quietly, squeezing my eyes shut, willing the tears from spilling down my cheeks.

“Tob-”

“Get out!” I yell.

“I think that’s enough, Officer. We appreciate it, but not now. Have a nice day.” Mac tells her.

Officer Sonnett has a somber but understanding look and she gets up and leaves the room.

“Hey, why don’t we get out of here, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

The car ride back to our building is silent. I’m leaning my head against the window, watching the raindrops violently crack open on the glass.

Suddenly, all the jumbotrons around the city turn on at once, showing a reporter standing next to a grinning Kelley O’Hara in the middle of what seems to be a training room of some sort. 

_“‘Here I am with the current member of The Four and future hero, Kelley O’Hara. How are you doing today Kelley?’_

_‘Thanks for asking Carrie, and yeah, I’m great!’_

_‘We just have a few questions for you, to update the public on what’s been happening here lately. Firstly, I see you got some new suits?’_

_“Oh yeah,’_ Kelley says, twirling in her skin-tight blue suit. _‘They are_ so _rad! They will protect us against almost anything, but are also super light and flexible. All thanks to Dr. Sauerbrunn.’_

_‘That’s great, Kelley. Now tell me, how has training been going?’_

_“Oh my gosh Carrie, it’s so hard! We are here 24/7, training and learning, and it’s all uncharted territory that’s a little hard to get used to, but all four of us have really been handling it well. Just preparing our bodies for our new abilities. I want injection day to be here asap, I want powers!’_ she says, laughing.

_“Well, there you have it, folks. New suits and successful training. I’d say we’re on the right track to victory.’”_

The interview ends, and I feel disgust bubbling up inside me.

_Those four have no idea what “hard” is. I would take their dumbass training over this any day._

Finally, Mac pulls up to his designated spot in the parking garage of our building. I slowly get out and follow him to the elevator, the silence not cut by either one of us, afraid to say the wrong thing. 

We arrive on my floor and drag our feet to the door. Mac opens the door, and I hesitate but walk in. Mac’s eyes flick to the place he found my parents for a second, and I follow his gaze but don’t look away. 

“Wait outside. I’ll get some of your stuff. You're staying with me,” Mac says gently. I follow his instructions after a beat, closing the door and sitting against it out in the hallway.

_I was supposed to hang out with Alex today. I wonder what Christen would think this time? What will Dunn think? I should tell Mac to take a nap when we get to his apartment, he looks tired._

My mind continues to randomly wander until Mac opens the door. He gives me a hand up, and we make our way to his apartment on the 13th floor.

* * *

A week goes by. Mac has to work a lot, so I really only see him on his lunch and dinner breaks, and then occasionally when he can get someone else to work behind the desk. He asked me if I wanted anyone to stay with me, and I said no. I don’t need a babysitter. I can handle this myself.

While Mac’s not here, I’m going back to my apartment to steal the booze from my parents' cabinet, staying there for the least amount of time as possible. I also haven’t been going to school, obviously. Alex and Allie have been texting me like crazy, but I don’t answer. I think Christen even texted me once, but I didn’t even read that one.

I’m standing by the window in the kitchen, bottle in hand, staring at everyone going through their day-to-day lives. Shit happens, but life still goes on. Everything is still so _normal_.

How can anyone be going to work right now? Or making food? Or taking their dog for a walk? How can everyone just ignore the shit going on in the world right now? People are so fucking narcissistic.

I put the bottle to my lips, but nothing comes out. The anger boils up, and I throw the bottle across the room so that it shatters on the opposite wall.

I breathe heavily. “Fuck,” I whisper. “fuck fuck fuck,” I repeat, sliding down the wall.

I sit on the ground with my head between my knees for a long time. Suddenly, I look up. 

Abby wanted me to fight. So that’s what I’m gonna do. Fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things that happen in this book are things I don't have experience with, like I don't know if the police can actually question you in the hospital or not, but I'm just going with it lol. If anything is really inaccurate, then let me know! I'm always eager to learn, and I want to make the story as realistic as possible(besides all the obviously non-realistic stuff lol). On another note, next chapter is a Christen POV!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christen POV!!

Christen POV 

Tobin has been gone all week. Not ever her friend group of stupid popular girls knows where she is. I’m getting worried, but I shouldn’t be. That’s not my job anymore.

_She’s not your problem, Chris._

That’s the thing though. Tobin was never my “problem”. She was the opposite of a problem, actually. She was my everything. And then one day, she just wasn’t.

**Flashback (1 year ago)**

“Tobin, I don’t care if you make new friends. I want that for you. But _Alex Morgan_? We literally talk shit about her every time we see her.”

“Yeah Chris, I know, but she’s. . . actually cool so-, so you should stop judging her.”

“Tobin, she’s a fucking _bully_ , not to mention she made me cry in 5th grade because she said the dress that _you_ got me for my birthday was ugly.”

“Jeez Chris, that was _5th grade_. She’s different now.”

“NO SHE’S-” I take a breath to compose myself.

“I just feel like you’re replacing me,” I say in a small voice.

“You know what Christen, maybe I am replacing you. This friendship isn’t working out anymore.”

“Tobin, why, I don’t understand.”

“Exactly,” she says, turning to walk out of my apartment.

“Tob, wait. Please don’t leave.” 

_Fuck it, I got nothing to lose._

I grab her arm and flip her around so she’s facing me.

“Christen, what-”

I kiss her. _Wow her lips are so soft, even better than what I imagined._

It only lasts for about a second though before Tobin pulls away.

“Chris I- I’m sorry, I just- I have to go. Just please leave me alone.”

And with that, she’s gone. Leaving me to sob in my apartment alone.

**End Flashback**

That was a year ago. Ever since, my life has been hell. I haven’t been able to make any new stable friends, and the bullying got worse since Tobin started ignoring me. Alyssa is the only one that I would consider sort of a friend. We aren’t super close, but she’s easy to talk to.

That’s all I need. Easy conversation. No expectations.

Class ends, pulling me out of my thoughts. I slowly swing my bag over my shoulder, gather my books in my arms, and head out. I’m on the way to my next class with my head down when I run into a brick wall.

“Yo Press, watch where you’re going,” Zach Ertz says laughing, looking down at me expectantly. Like a predator. Like I’m prey.

“Zach, lay off, will you,” Julie walks up behind him and gives him a kiss. “Christen Press,” she says slowly. “Should’ve known.”

I try to walk past them but am blocked by the couple and Zach friends.

“Woah woah woah, we didn’t say you could leave. Look Press, I got a proposition for you. Write my Civil War paper for me, and maybe I’ll lay off for a couple days. I know all you do is work anyway considering you have no friends.”

A year ago, in a situation like this, Tobin would just tell them to fuck off and lead me somewhere where I can cry with my head against her chest in private. Now, I’m all alone. And the words are stuck in my throat.

“I-, um.”

“What’s that, Press?”

“Don’t worry, baby, she’ll do it. Especially if Tobin would want her too. Which she definitely would.”

My stomach drops. _What do they know about me and Tobin? What has she told them?_

“Where is Tobin?” I blurt out.

Julie scoffs. “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. You have two days to write Zach’s paper. . . and mine too, for that matter.” And with that, she grabs Zach’s elbow and the most popular couple in school(next to Alex and Servando) sashays down the hallway.

_I was right, they don’t know where she is either. I’ve seen this before. There is definitely something wrong._

On a couple occasions, when Tobin was taken advantage of by bullies at school or other kids in the group home she used to stay at, she would cut everyone off. She wouldn’t feel comfortable at school or at home, so she would sometimes ditch and go to the park or just wander around until she showed up at my doorstep at night. She never talked about what happened, and I never knew why she was upset until she told me a little before we stopped talking.

I _knew_ something was off when I saw her at the party.

_I don’t care if she doesn’t want to talk to me, she needs my help, and she’s gonna get it whether she likes it or not. I’ve got nothing to lose._

I change my route to physics and head directly out the front doors. I don’t really feel like being at school anymore anyway.

* * *

  
  
Even though I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I feel invigorated for the first time in a while. I finally feel like I’m doing something with a purpose, even if this totally fails. I’m super nervous, but I welcome the feeling. At least I’m feeling something besides scared and lonely.

I walk through the doors of Tobin’s building and am greeted by a stressed looking Mac behind the desk. “Hi Mr. Morris,” I say shyly.

“Please, Christen, call me Mac, makes me feel old when you call me that,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. 

I was acquainted with Mac only a couple of times when I helped Tobin move in here, and when I was here for the last full conversation I had with Tobin before she cut me off. I remember how happy Tobin was when she moving in. _“A new chapter,”_ she said, smiling. _“Thank God I’m out of that shithole.”_

“Um, do you know where Tobin is by any chance? She’s missed the last few days of school, probably because she’s sick, so I’m just here to drop off the work she missed.”

All of a sudden, Mac’s face changes from neutrality to one of despair. He gives me a sad smile. “In the middle of the school day?”

“Yeah, I-, um, have a free period.”

“Don’t worry kid, I’m not gonna rat you out or anything.” He looks down. “Tobin didn’t tell you anything, right?” he whispers.

“No, she didn’t.”

“Okay, you can just drop the work off at apartment 132 on the 13th floor, I’ll give it to her later.”

“Oh, I thought she lived on the 17th floor?”

“She does,” Mac trails off, not really knowing how much he should tell the girl that Tobin never stopped thinking about.

“Is she staying with you?” I ask quietly. Mac doesn’t answer. “Mac, I don’t know how much you know about Tobin, apparently more than I thought you did, but I know her too. Better than anyone. I know she isn’t sick.”

He looks up, curiosity and- is that hope? - written all over his face.

“I just, I know something’s wrong, I just don’t know what. And I don’t know if she’ll be willing to talk to me, but I thought. . . I should try,” I finish lamely.

“Please try,” Mac says quietly, relieved. “I’m so worried about her and-, she needs someone. She needs you. Don’t let her push you away.”

I nod my head and proceed to the elevator, pushing the button for the 13th floor.

“Wait!” Mac calls, stopping the closing doors with his hand. “Here’s the keycard for my house. . . and for Tobin’s. I know she goes in there sometimes.”

“Thanks,” I say, more confused than ever. Where the hell are Abby and Glennon? Shouldn’t they be handling this?

I stop at Mac’s apartment first. “Tobin?” I call softly, lightly tapping on the door. I don’t want to force myself in; I want to give her a chance to decide to let me in herself first. I still don’t really know what I’m dealing with, and immediately bursting in doesn’t seem like the best move.

I wait a beat, then another. Either she’s not here, didn’t hear me, or is choosing not to answer. I knock louder to eliminate the chance that she didn’t hear me, and when she still doesn’t open the door, I hesitantly slide the keycard in the door, the click of the door opening cutting the silence like a knife.

“Tobin?” No answer. I tip-toe through the small apartment, partly relieved and partly disappointed at the realization that she’s not here.

I walk back out to the elevator and push the button for the 17th floor.

Once I get to her door, I knock softly and call her name like I did the first time. No answer. I do this on and off for a few minutes before finally gaining the courage to open the door myself.

“Tobin, I'm coming in.”

I peek my head in before opening the door all the way. And I do not see what I expected. 

Tobin is sitting in front of the couch, papers all around her, staring at the blank TV.

“Tobin?” I ask quietly, concern lacing my voice.

She looks at me. “It doesn’t make any sense. They-, Abby coached the soccer team, I went to the games and her stuff is all here. That was her job, her life. All of Glennon’s chapters she was writing for her book, they’re all here. They couldn’t have been lying, it doesn’t make sense.”

I carefully walk towards her, and when she doesn’t move away, I crouch down next to her.

“Tobin, I don’t understand.”

“They wouldn’t have been killed-”

“ _What?”_

“-if they didn’t do anything wrong though and I have to figure it out I have to understand but there’s no way they hid anything from me and even if they did-”

“Stop, Tobin, stop. Just breathe, and tell me what happened. We’ll figure this out together.”

She looks at me, scoffs, and turns away. “This is so typical.”

“What?”

“I cut you off and start a new, happy life, and now that shit goes down again, you’re back.”

“Yeah because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m the only one that’s given a real shit about you from day one, and that’s never changed. I never left, Tobin, I was always here for you.” I take her hand. “I’m here for you, okay?”

She looks at me with tears in her eyes. “Why?”

“Because you're the only one who gave a real shit about me from day one too.”

“I still do,” she whispers.

“What do you need, Tobin? How can I help you right now?”

“Just, stay here with me, just. . . stay, for now. Please?”

And so I do. I sit next to her on the floor and we stay there in silence with her head on my shoulder for hours.

* * *

  
  


I wake up to the sound of the door opening, and I turn my head to see a frantic Mac relax at the sight of us.

“Oh, thank God, I was worried-, I don’t know, just, how is she doing?”

“As good as can be expected, I guess.”

“Did she tell you what happened?”

“No, she didn’t tell me anything.”

“Well, that makes two of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I kinda know what happened, well, I know what resulted from it.”

I look at him expectantly.

“Her. . . Abby and Glennon were murdered here a week ago, tied to some chairs, and Tobin was too. She had to watch.”

“Oh my God.” I put a shaking hand up to my mouth and turn to look at Tobin, still sound asleep on my shoulder.

“She hasn’t told anybody what happened though or what she saw. At this point, I’m thinking the police are starting to see her as a suspect, not just a witness.”

I shake my head, still not believing what I heard.

Mac looks around at all the papers scattered on the floor. He crouches down and picks one up, examining it. “What is this?”

“I don’t know. Tobin said it’s stuff from Abby and Glennon’s jobs. Something about how they couldn’t be lying to her. Maybe she was looking for proof.”

“They would never lie to Tobin about anything, I know that for damn sure. What the hell did those guys tell her?”

“I can’t believe this,” I whisper, tears blurring my vision. “It’s always her.” Mac sets the papers down and looks at me.

“She’s always the one that has to deal with this. . . _crap_ all the time. She was finally happy with them and now it’s ruined. How is she ever gonna get past this? Abby and Glennon, they were it for her.”

“Now we have to be it for her. You’re part of this now whether you want to be or not. We are her new family, Christen. You know how she will get past this? With us. She can’t do this without us.”

I look at her again. _I got you. And this time, I’m not letting go._

* * *

  
  


After about another hour, Tobin finally stirs from her spot on my shoulder.

“Tobin?” I ask, sitting up a little more.

She looks at me first with confusion, then with anger, then with remembrance, then just indifference. I don’t know how I’m gonna keep up with this whirlwind of emotions.

She gets up and proceeds to the windows, pulling the curtains open to reveal the blinding sun.

“Tobs, there’s some food back at my place. You should eat something.”

“No. There’s only one thing I need, and food isn’t it.”

Mac and I look at each other. Tobin turns to face us. “I’m finding the bastards who did this, and I’m gonna get answers.”

“Tobin we can do that, we are gonna do that, but you need to take care of yourself first. It’s what Abby and Glennon would want-”

“Don’t you dare tell me what my moms would want,” she said in a whisper that scares me. “You weren’t there. You don’t know anything about them.” 

“I’m sorry Tobin. I shouldn’t have said that. But I’m here because I want to help you and I want to know about them. I wasn’t there, but we can make up for that time now.”

Her features are emotionless. “I don’t even know how to be friends with you anymore.”

I lower my head, not really sure how to respond. Tobin laughs humorlessly. “As a matter of fact, I don’t know how to be friends with Alex, Allie, Julie, or AD either. If I told them any real shit, they would probably just buy me some expensive clothes with their mommy's credit card to make me feel better.”

Before either Mac or I can respond, Tobin continues. “Look, if you're forcing yourself into my life, you might as well help me. Both of you. My moms were murdered right in front of me. I’m gonna find out why, and I’m not stopping until I do. You either help, or you get the hell out of my life. Are you in or not?” she looks at us expectantly.

Mac and I look at each other, then back at Tobin, no having to contemplate our decision. 

“Hell yeah.”

“When do we start?”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story is gonna pick up real soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellllooooo. I finished this chapter at like 3 last night lol. This one's a little longer. Enjoy!

“You ready for this?” Christen asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Mac asked me repeatedly this morning if I was ready to go back to school. I said yes, but the truth is that I’ve become numb to the whole thing, so I might as well go back. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I don’t know, but I’m taking it as a good thing. Allows me to get done what I need to get done without anything holding me back.

We get out of Christen's car and walk side by side into school. Most people don’t see anything wrong with it, considering they used to see us hang out all the time. A select few though, namely Alex and the rest of her posse with their boyfriends and girlfriend, think otherwise. They are leaning against the wall next to the double doors. Just waiting for us.

I feel Christen tense up next to me. “You'll be fine, Chris. You’ll be okay,” I reassure her.

Alex steps up to us when we get to the top of the stairs.

“Tobin, you know you don’t have to reward stalkers by hanging out with them, right?”

“Press, you never did our essays. You know what that means.”

“Guys, fuck off. Christen is my friend, so stop giving her shit. You’re acting like idiots.”

_Just like old times_ , Christen thinks. She almost smiles. Almost.

“What happened to giving us free rein on Christen to make her stay away from you, huh Tobin?” Alex puts her finger on her chin and looks up. “I think your exact words were ‘I don’t care what you do, as long as you make that bitch stay away from me.’”

Christen pales. I push her through the doors and lead her down the hall into the bathroom. I check under the stalls to make sure no one is in there. I turn to her.

“Chris, that’s not true. You know I would never say that.”

“Tobin. . .”

“Chris.” I take a step towards her. She takes a step back. “What did I even do to you?” she asks hurtfully.

“Christen, please listen. I know what I did to you was really shitty, and I’m sorry, but you have to know that I would never say anything like that about you.”

“How am I supposed to believe you? You changed, Tobin. I don’t know what you were like with them or what you told them about me. I just, I don’t know how to trust you.”

“Damn it Christen, what’s the point of lying? I already lost everything!” I take a deep breath. I have been pushing away the truth the whole week, and I’m not gonna crumble now, two minutes before class. “I need people that I can trust, but it goes both ways. I need you to trust me too. That means full transparency. If I did say that or anything bad about you at all, I would admit it right now, get it out in the open. Alex was just trying to fuck with you and hurt me. She’s intimidated by you, Christen. She knows that you can take me away from her. And Alex can’t afford to have someone out there that will use everything they know about her against her. And trust me, I know a lot. Don’t let her see your vulnerability. She’ll use that.”

“Wow,” she whispers. “That’s the most I’ve heard you say at once all week.”

I laugh. “Shut up.”

“Okay, I believe you. Full transparency.”

“Yeah. I know we have a lot to talk about. . .”

“We can’t focus on that right now. We have bigger problems. That can wait.”

“Okay. . . thanks.”

She smiles. “So what’s on the schedule for today?”

“Today, we’re just gonna search my apartment. That’s all we can do for now until the police get a lead.”

Mac and Christen have been helping me all week with trying to uncover the identities of the killers and what their motive was. We talked to Abby’s coworkers and Glennon’s peers in the writing world. Both have confirmed what I’ve always known: they both had the jobs they told me they had and were both extremely passionate about their work. No one said anything about mysterious absences, abnormal behavior, or anything unordinary. So, so far, it seems like the killers were lying.

_What was the point of killing them, then?_

I also finally went down to the police station and gave my statement about what happened, as hard as it was. Luckily, Christen was waiting outside the whole time, so I was able to get through it. I think they still suspect me to some degree, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I did what I can, and now all I can do is wait. I hate not being in control. 

So now we’re just gonna look around where the. . . _incident_ occurred to see if the intruders left any evidence or clues behind. I may not be in control, but I rather do this than just sit around and wait.

“Sounds good.”

The bell rings, signaling the end of our conversation. “See you in math?” Christen asks.

I smile. “Yeah, see you then.”

  
  


* * *

Alex, Julie, and AD have been staring daggers at me all day. Allie stares at me too, but not with resentment. More with worry with a hint of curiosity.

Christen plops down in the seat next to me so I’m sitting in between her and Alyssa. Class is buzzing more than usual today. _This feels like deja vu right now._

“Okay, settle down please.” Mrs. Dunn says, half sitting on Servando’s desk. “I know we are all excited for Servando and the rest of The Four because they are getting their abilities today, blah blah blah.” She slams her hands on the desk, effectively shutting everyone up. “ _However_ , that does not excuse the fact that this test you have tomorrow will make or break your grade. I don’t want any excuses as to why you didn’t study. If you fail, that is on you, regardless of the distractions. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Mrs. Dunn,” the class mumbles.

I find that I can’t focus on the lesson, even with Christen poking me with her pencil and pointing at the board a couple times. In fact, I can’t even focus on Alyssa’s attempts at recreating the bicycle I drew on my paper(bikes are really hard to draw, but I’m pretty impressed with mine, to be honest). My mind is just somewhere else today.

That feeling I got during the reveal party is back, that nagging feeling that something’s wrong that I can’t place. It’s frustrating me to no end.

The bell finally rings. “Don’t forget to study!” Mrs. Dunn calls out to the rushing students.

I’m on my way out with Alyssa and Christen when Mrs. Dunn asks me to hang back. I almost forgot she was part of what happened, and that I might have mentioned her name a few times to the police. _Oh shit._

Christen signals that she’ll wait outside, and shuts the door quietly. Now we’re alone. And I have no idea how much Mrs. Dunn knows.

“Tobin,” she says softly, standing from her spot on Servando’s desk. “When you ran out of tutoring, I was really worried. You left your bag and everything; I didn’t know what to think. A week later, I’m being called into the police station to answer questions. They told me some basic details but. . . just that they were trying to solve a homicide case, and they asked about you. About what we were doing together and how you were acting.” She looks at me sympathetically. “Tobin, I don’t know exactly what happened, and I hope my assumptions are wrong. I just want you to know that you can always talk to me. Okay? Please don’t hesitate to reach out. Even if you have to leave class, or need more time to take a test, don’t hesitate to do that too. Just know I’m here.”

“Thanks Mrs. Dunn,” I say, feeling a little uncomfortable but appreciative at the same time. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I walk out and am greeted by Christen waiting for me so we can go back to Mac’s together. I told her what Mrs. Dunn said to me.

“Aw, so she really is a softy under all that attitude.”

I smirk. “Yeah, I guess.”

* * *

  
  


“Tobin, there’s nothing here. The police already searched the apartment, I can’t imagine we will find anything they didn’t,” Mac says as he’s kneeling down to look under the counters.

“Yeah, Tobin, we’ve been at this for hours. Maybe we should just-”

“No, okay! There has to be something here, they had to have left something.”

“Tobs, I’m gonna go order dinner.”

I open my mouth to protest, but Mac cuts me off. “We all need food, and rest. All we can do now is wait for the police to find something. I know it’s hard, but you have to accept that, Tobin.” And with that, he grabs his jean jacket off the table and leaves the apartment.

“My mom wants me home in 20 minutes,” Christen says, looking down at her phone. “But I can tell her to wait if you want to keep looking.”

“No, that’s okay, I’ll just see you tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? You can come over for dinner.”

“Chris.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “I appreciate it, but I have Mac. Don’t worry. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She smiles and grabs her coat. 

Once Christen’s gone, I sigh loudly, hating that they gave up but also appreciative of the silence.

“There has to be something we missed,” I say out loud.

I look around where the incident happened one more time, but don’t find anything. I start wandering to other parts of the apartment. I end up in my parent’s room.

I take a shaky breath and tears prick my eyes as the memories of them flood back. I haven’t been letting myself feel their loss. I don’t want to feel any more pain.

Pushing my thoughts away, I scan the room, looking for any signs that the assailants were right, and that my moms really were lying to me after all. I look under the bed and in the desk. It’s in the closet behind the hanging clothes that I find it.

With all my strength, I pull the large black safe out from the closet and set it on the desk. I try to open it, but there’s a four number code. I sigh loudly and sit in the chair, getting comfortable. I might be here awhile.

A couple of hours and a few worried texts from Mac later, I’m still seated in the chair, no closer to opening the safe than when I originally found it.

Abby always said how she loves, sorry, loved puzzles, but her creativity is not helping me here. Why she couldn’t have made the password her birthday or anniversary date and called it a day is beyond me.

_Wait, oh my gosh Abby, you’re a genius._

One time, Abby and Glennon got a mini safe to put their credit cards in overnight because I was deemed “untrustworthy” after using too much money at the mall with Alex. It was supposed to be a joke, but I couldn’t steal their cards when I wanted to buy those expensive paints(something I actually wanted and wasn’t pressured into getting like the clothes from the mall), so that was a bummer. The point is, one day I made a big scene about cracking the code to get in the safe and asked them if I could use the cards for the paints as a reward. Abby laughed and took the safe. “You know what would be genius? If the real opening for the safe was, like, on the bottom or something. That way, even smart kids like you would never get into our secret adult stuff,” she said, winking at me.

I take a deep breath, stand up, and turn the safe until I can see the bottom. Sure enough, there is a mini keypad, requiring only three numbers. I set to work, taking only a few minutes to figure out the code. 7-1-5, their anniversary. Of course.

I eagerly open the safe and dump everything out. There’s passports, birth certificates, social security, the usual. But the more I keep looking, the more surprising it gets.

First off, there are adoption papers. 

_Oh my God, they were gonna adopt me._

I should feel sad, but all I feel is anger. Anger that their lives got taken before we could become a true family. Anger that my chance at becoming part of a stable home life permanently was taken. Anger that they never even got the chance to ask me.

I scream. I scream for everything I have lost, and for the future that was ripped away from me.

Once I stop, I’m still not calm, but I force myself to continue looking through the safe.

The adoption papers made me scream, but this may make me throw up.

Inside I find wads upon wads of cash, I don’t know how much but it’s enough to be sketchy and definitely not legally obtained. I also see papers that I don’t really understand, but the more I examine them, the more I put the pieces together.

It's paperwork for a bank that I’ve never heard of. Millions of dollars have been deposited in it. I search up the bank, and there’s a website. You can deposit your money to this online bank, but the whole thing looks sketchy if you look closely enough. There’s not a lot of information on the website, and it just doesn’t look legit.

_Did Abby and Glennon withdraw all the money people deposited? Holy shit, they committed bank fraud._

I inspect the papers and the website again, willing it to not be true.

_Is this why they were killed? Maybe they took money from those guys, who found out about it and told them to stop, and when they didn’t, they killed them? Maybe they just came looking for the money and couldn’t find it, so they killed them out of anger? Maybe they interrogated Abby and Glennon about it before I even came in? This can’t be happening. My parents did not create their own online bank to steal money. They couldn’t have. Right?_

I place everything back into the safe except for the money. The paperwork says it’s millions of dollars, but I want to count it to make sure, and then give the money back to the people who deposited it. I want to do it quietly, though. I can’t go to the police. Even dead, I would never do that to Abby and Glennon. Even if they did lie to me.

Mac is still blowing up my phone, so I put the money in a duffle bag and stuff it under my bed. I’ll deal with it later.

How could they do this? And more importantly, why?

* * *

  
  


I push through the door to Mac’s apartment.

“Finally, I was getting worried. What have you been doing?” He asks, a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth.

“Sorry,” I join him on the couch and take a slice. “Was just doing a last minute check.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t find anything, Tobin. Don’t worry, we’ll get news soon.”

“Yeah well, sometimes no news is good news,” I mutter.

Mac turns the TV on to the news, ironically.

“The Four are getting their powers today. Don’t know if I should be excited or scared,” he jokes.

“Scared. Definitely scared.”

“Oh, here we go,” he says, turning the volume up.

_“Hello, America. For the past two weeks, The Four have been preparing nonstop to receive the injections to get their powers,”_ the news anchor says. _“Remember, we won’t see them use their powers until Rein is confident in their ability to display their powers safely. Rein doesn’t even know what their abilities will be yet. Their abilities will be based on their personalities, so the results cannot be predetermined.”_ The anchor puts his hand up to his ear, listening to something on the other end. _“I have been informed that Dr. Sauerbrunn is ready to begin administering the serum. This is the start of a new beginning, America. Don’t forget who made our future victory possible.”_

The channel cuts to the same room The Four were in when their identities were revealed, but this time they are decked out in their new suits. They look tired, but happy. Especially Kelley O’Hara. She literally looks like she’s shaking with excitement.

_“Thanks, Dom,”_ the Doc begins. _“Once these four individuals are injected, the country as we know it will change. It will be safe, secure, and you can be at ease with the knowledge that there are now people out there who can protect you. I will now administer the serum.”_

You could feel all of America sitting on the edge of their seats. You could also feel the disappointment when nothing happened after the last needle was pulled from Servando's neck. 

_“That was just step one. Now, we are sending out a signal that will likely reach through the entire city. Yes, it needs to be that powerful. Do not panic if your TVs and phones glitch for a second or two. The serum now needs to be activated, and one pulse should do the trick. Once the pulse is sent out, The Four will have a reaction to it that we are not 100% sure will be a calm reaction. If the cameras cut out, once again, do not be alarmed. This just means that The Four will need to be attended to immediately, and the cameras would be too much of a distraction and add too much stress. We will send out a full report of the results tomorrow if this happens. Okay, are you ready guys?”_ she asks The Four directly. They all shake their heads excitedly. _“Okay, the signal will go off in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. . .”_

The TV cuts out for a second, but when it comes back, it’s all static. 

“Welp, maybe they really did have a bad reaction to it.”

“Yeah. . .” I say.

There’s a sharp pain in my head. I grab my head and lean over, putting my head on my thighs.

“Tobin? Hey, you good?”

It’s like I can hear every sound in the city; everything is amplified. The sounds are so loud it’s painful. Someone’s screaming, and it takes a few seconds to realize that it’s me.

I stand from the couch and pace around the living room, my hands pressing on either side of my head.

“Tobin, what’s going on?” I can barely hear him over the unbearably loud static in my head.

Next, it’s physical pain. I fall to the ground. I feel like I can’t move. My vision is blurry, but I can see Mac dropping to his knees next to me. 

He puts his hand on my arm, and that’s when my whole world changes.

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing till 3:00 and posting in the middle of the night might be becoming a habit. We'll see. Also, trigger warning for a car crash.

**I’m sitting in the back of a car, strapped into the seat. The rain is hammering into the street. To my left sits a boy, a little older than me, and what looks like his parents in the front. They’re yelling at the boy while he just stares out the window.**

**“We told you to stop seeing that girl. Now look what happened. She cheats on you. Now what? You wanna change your college decision so you can be with her? Are you crazy?”**

**_How the hell did I get here? What is going on?_ **

**The boy lifts his head from the window, now looking agitated.**

**“Dad, Jessie loves me, okay? She just made a mistake, and she has been non-stop apologizing. We are meant to be together. You wouldn’t understand.”**

**“The hell I wouldn’t understand! You are not following her like a lovesick puppy while she goes around disrespecting you. I won’t allow it.” The mom shakes her head in agreement.**

**“Um, excuse me?” I ask, but no one acknowledges me. I’m starting to panic. The car is slowly gaining speed.**

**“I don’t care what you think! I’ve already asked Jessie to marry me, and she said yes. So no matter what you do, we will be together.”**

**“What?!” the dad yells. His knuckles are turning white from how hard he is gripping the wheel.**

**“Honey, slow down.”**

**“Um, hello? Is everyone in this car deaf?!”**

**“How dare you do something so rash! You are not marrying that girl, and that’s final!”**

**The car gains speed.**

**“You’re not the boss of me anymore, Dad! You’re just gonna have to deal with it.”**

**“Dude, slow down, we’re gonna crash! Can someone tell me what’s going on here?”**

**“Robert, please slow down!”**

**“Not until Mac says he will take back the engagement.”**

**“What?! No way.”**

**“Fine.” The car goes faster. Almost 100 miles per hour.**

**“I hate you!”**

**“Rob, watch out!”**

**“Watch out!” I yell.**

**It’s too late. The car clips another car going the other way, and before I know what’s happening, we’re flipping.**

**After what feels like forever, the car finally stops upside down. I’m breathing hard, but I’m okay. Not a scratch on me, actually.**

**“MOM! DAD!” Mac yells. I look over to him. He has blood trickling down his forehead and is gripping his arm. Besides that, he looks okay. Physically.**

**Mac continues to yell for his parents and gets no response. They aren’t moving. Luckily, everyone has a seatbelt on, though, so maybe they’re okay.**

**“Mac,” I say in a strained voice, still in shock from the accident. “Mac?”**

**He doesn’t acknowledge me. The only thing I can do is watch while he screams for his parents.**

* * *

“Tobin? Tobin?! Hey, c’mon, don’t do that. Please be okay.”

Mac’s voice is slowly becoming clearer. I open my eyes to his worried face over mine. I’m on the floor with him over me, shaking me.

“I’m fine, Mac. I’m fine.” I sit up as he moves off me. All the pain I felt is gone. How long ago was it that that happened? I must have been asleep for a while, especially to have a dream like that.

I ask Mac how long ago it was that we watched the news.

“Tobin, that was like 30 seconds ago. All of a sudden, you’re holding your head and falling on the ground. Is everything okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?”

_That just happened? Damn, I felt like I was in that dream forever._

  
  


“No don’t. I don’t really know what happened. I’m fine, though.” I am fine, surprisingly. I feel great, actually. 

I sit on the couch to catch my breath. Damn, that dream was intense. How could it have been a dream, though? I was only out for like a second according to Mac.

My mind is reeling between what I found out about Abby and Glennon and the dream, or whatever it was. I need to go to someone who understands me when I’m scared. I need Christen.

“I gotta go see Christen. I said I was gonna meet her to go over homework tonight.”

“Okay. . . are you sure you’re good?”

I open my mouth to question Mac about the dream, but decided against it. I don’t want to seem crazy and make him think that something’s wrong. Christen’s the only one who might be able to help me. “Yeah. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

I ride the elevator to the bottom and decide to walk to her apartment because it’s not that far. I walk outside and am met with crowded streets and sidewalks. The air is polluted with the sounds of horns and people yelling over one another. No one knows how The Four reacted to the serum, and the slight chance that they were seriously injured or worse is making people on edge.

I pull my sweatshirt over my head and tie it around my waist. The close proximity of people is making it stuffy and hot. I’m trapped in the middle of everyone, so it was inevitable for someone to brush up against my arm. Suddenly, I’m no longer on the street.

**I’m standing in the crowded hallway of a high school. It’s fancy, with wooden floors and lockers and kids in crisp, nice uniforms. I look down at my white tee shirt, black joggers and sneakers. I look up, afraid of judgemental stares, but no one is even looking in my direction.**

**Suddenly, everyone’s attention is diverted towards something going on down the hall. I follow the crowd and stand in the back of the circle forming around two students, one being what looks like a senior and the other being probably a freshman.**

**“Did you really rat me out to Ms. Danvers, Kevin?” the older kid asks menacingly. The little kid looks terrified but stands his ground.**

**“You have been bullying me every day since I got here. I’m not gonna let it happen anymore. So yeah, I did.” I’m impressed with the kid's balls but afraid that that comment is gonna cost him.**

**I tap on the shoulder of this girl standing next to me. Nothing.**

**“You think I’m** **_bullying_ ** **you, Kevin? All I was doing was talking to you. You have no friends, so I thought I would help you out. Apparently you want to be a loner. You see, Kevin.” He backs up so Kevin is against the shining wooden lockers. “** **_Bullying_ ** **is when someone hurts you purposefully. Like if someone did this.” He grabs Kevin’s shoulders and pushes him against the lockers.**

**“Do you understand now?”**

**“You’re hurting me!” Kevin cries.**

**“No, Kevin. You still don’t know what bullying is, so I'm just gonna have to educate you. This is bullying, just so you know before you go crying to a teacher for nothing.” The senior pushes Kevin down to the floor and starts punching him.**

**“Is anyone gonna do something?” I yell. No one replies. I push through the crowd to the fight. I try to grab the senior, but nothing happens. I was able to grab him, but I wasn’t able to pull him off. It’s like I’m not even here.**

**I stand and scan the crowd. People are either just staring at the fight with blank faces, like this is a normal thing, or they’re cheering. I can’t do anything, so I just close my eyes. I can’t bear to watch.**

**When I open my eyes, I’m still in the school, but the fight and the crowd are gone. I’m standing in a different hallway, right in front of the boys' bathroom. I don’t really know what to do until I hear screaming coming from the bathroom. I’m starting to just assume that no one can see me, so I walk in. There, I see a group of four boys looking in a stall and laughing. I run over just in time to see Kevin with his head pushed in the toilet by the same kid from the fight.**

**“Hey! Let go of him!” I yell. Unsurprisingly, no one reacts to my presence. All I can do is stand there and watch helplessly as Kevin alternates between screaming and crying and being drowned in the water until a teacher runs in.**

**That scene eventually fades into a new one too. For what feels like forever, I go through different scenarios where Kevin has been bullied. Even after that senior graduated or got expelled, whichever came first, Kevin was still not in a good situation. People still avoided him for no reason, and I saw a few times where he was crying alone in between periods. I felt horrible, and I tried to talk to him, but he never heard me. Even his senior year was awful, which I saw some glimpses of. He never stopped being bullied until he walked out of graduation.**

The visions finally end after what feels like forever. It wasn’t forever though, apparently, because I’m in the same place that I was in on the sidewalk as I was before the visions, and nothing has changed. I look back to see the back of an adult Kevin’s head as he pushes past people in his black business suit.

_At least it seems like he landed on his feet okay. I hope so._

After my feelings about Kevin fade, I start to panic about what just happened. I thought these weird hallucinations might have just been a one time thing because of the stress I felt because of the bank fraud, but maybe it’s not.

On the way to Christen’s apartment, I have four more visions. Some of them were horrible, one was the death of someone’s parent and another was their wife getting cancer, but the other two were on less of a scale, one being getting bit by a dog as a kid and the other was saying goodbye to his parents before leaving for college.

At last, I make it to Christen’s apartment building. I wave to the doorman and he lets me pass with no problem. He remembers me from all the time I spent at Christen’s apartment, and I guess she doesn’t gossip to her doorman like I do. I put my sweatshirt back on, suddenly shivering from the lack of warm bodies surrounding me.

As I wait for the elevator to take me up to the 23rd floor, I try to block out everything that’s been happening, but I can’t. In just the past hour, I have learned more about the people around me than I should know, people I love and strangers alike.

I can feel my heart rate pick up and sweat starting to coat my skin.

_No, please not now._

By the time I’m frantically knocking on Christen’s door, my breath has become shallow, and I’m panting.

“Tobin! I thought you said you weren’t coming for dinner, we just cleaned up. Wait, what’s wrong?” Christen asks as she opens the door. 

I look into the warm, comfy apartment to see Christen’s parents and her little sister, Mal, cleaning up from dinner. I pull Christen out into the hall, and she closes the door.

“Tobin, hey, just slow your breathing for me. Deep breaths.”

I try to slow my breathing, but nothing’s working. I slide down the wall onto the floor.

“Open your eyes and just focus on me, okay? Look into my eyes.”

I do as she says. _Wow, have her eyes always been that green?_

“Good. That’s good, Tobin. Deep breaths for me.”

I finally start to calm down after a few minutes. Christen looks to her left and right to see if anyone saw us. “Why don’t we go outside."

She grabs my elbow and leads me to the elevator, which we ride down to the lobby. I follow her outside and we sit on a bench outside the building looking out towards the water in the distance.

“So. . . I know there was a reason that you walked all the way over here instead of just texting me.”

“Yeah. It’s kinda hard to explain.”

“Are you okay now? That panic attack seemed pretty bad this time.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m gonna tell you something, but please don’t think I’m crazy, okay?” I think about telling her about the bank fraud, but decide against it. I can’t have it getting out to the police, even though I’m pretty sure Christen wouldn’t say anything. If this got out, it would be messy and completely tarnish how people think about my late parents, and that’s not happening. After everything they did for me, I at least owe them my silence on this.

“While I was on my way over here, I kinda kept. . . getting visions. Or something.”

“Ummmm okay. What kind of visions?”

“Well, at first it was at the apartment with Mac, and it was him when he was young. He was in an argument with his parents and they got into a car crash. A bad one. And then on the way here, I had a vision about this kid Kevin who was being bullied, then one about death, then cancer, then a dog bite-”

Christen puts her hand on my shoulder and cuts me off. “Tobin, you're going way too fast. I don’t understand. I think you’re just under a lot of stress right now.”

I shake my head. “No, you don’t understand. That kid Kevin? He's an adult now. He was on the street, and I passed him. Next thing I know, I’m seeing all the torture he went through in high school.”

“Your mind is just making that up, Tobin. You don’t think that was real, do you?” she asks with concern.

“You don’t understand. You’re not listening!”

“Okay okay, let’s backtrack. Did something happen that triggered this?’

“. . . I don’t know.” I think about the bank fraud, but don’t say anything. “Mac and I were just eating and watching the news and. . . oh yeah! Something weird did happen.”

Christen perks up and turns her body to face me more.

“After we watched the broadcast, I started feeling pain first in my head, then the rest of my body. Like, for no reason. It’s never happened before. It was super weird.”

Christen goes quiet for a second. “The Four broadcast?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“They did that signal thing that was supposed to be big enough to reach the entire city. Maybe that affected you?”

“I mean, maybe, but why? Dr. Sauerbrunn didn’t say it would affect regular people.”

“And then you started having the visions after that?” Christen asks quietly.

“Yeah,” I drawl out, trying to figure out what she’s getting at.

“Did you tell Mac about your vision? Did you ask him if what you saw was real?”

“What? No, he would think I’m crazy.”

“We gotta go ask him right now,” Christen says frantically. She grabs my elbow and pulls me off the bench towards her car.

“Chris, what’s going on?”

“Tobin,” she stops and turns to me. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asks, whisper shouting. “You might have powers.”

* * *

  
  


Christen and I storm through the door to Mac’s apartment, startling him from his spot on the couch.

“Jeez guys, you scared me. Christen, hey, I didn’t know you were coming over?”

I sit next to him on the couch, one leg under me and facing him. Christen sits on the arm of the couch on the other side so I’m in between her and Mac.

Now that I’m about to ask him about what I saw in my vision, I don’t really know where to start. _How do you ask a guy if he and his parents got into a potentially fatal car crash because of an argument that started because of him?_

“Look, Mac,” I start. I look at Christen, and she looks at me encouragingly.

“You have to be honest with me, okay? Cuz this is really important.”

“Okayyyy, you’re scaring me now,” he laughs nervously.

“Did you get into a car crash with your parents when you were around my age?”

Mac stands, anger filling his features. “How do you know about that?” he asks quietly.

“You need to tell me what happened.”

“I don’t need to tell you anything, Tobin! You need to tell _me_ how the hell you even know about that.”

I stand so we are almost eye level. “I need details, Mac. I need to know everything. Believe it or not, this is extremely important.”

“Why?!”

“Just tell me!”

“Tobin, maybe we should tell him why. He might not tell us if we don’t.”

“No Christen.” I don’t want him lying to me. He might lie if I tell him I had a vision about the crash because he wouldn’t want me to worry about my mental health even more. “Mac, please? You have no idea-, just, please?” I’m on the verge of tears now.

“Tobin,” he softens. “You're scaring me. What’s going on?”

“Please just tell me everything about the crash.”

Mac looks at Christen, then back at me. We sit back on the couch.

“Okay, um. My girlfriend cheated on me about a month before we graduated high school. I thought she still loved me, though, so I proposed, and she said yes,” he says embarrassed. “I told my parents during a car ride to my dad’s friend’s beach house for vacation, and let’s just say they weren’t pleased. My dad was driving fast because he was mad, and. . .” he trails off, the emotions catching up to him. “We clipped another car, and flipped a couple times,” he croaked out. “I was okay, my mom had to go into surgery right away but ended up surviving. My dad didn’t make it.”

My stomach drops. _It was real._

I look down. “I’m so sorry, Mac. I had no idea.”

“Yeah well, you were never supposed to find out about it, so.”

I don’t reply, still in shock.

“So, why was it so important that you needed to know that?”

I still can’t say anything, so I just grab the piece of paper out of the pocket of my joggers and hand it to him. On the way to the apartment, Christen had me write out everything I saw in the vision so both she and Mac could know for sure that I wasn’t lying. Not that she didn’t believe me. It’s just easier to wrap your head around it this way. Plus, convincing Mac would be a challenge. 

I stand and start pacing behind the couch while he reads the paper.

“How, how did you know all of this? You couldn’t have known this unless you were there. I didn’t tell anyone this, Tobin! How did you know?!”

“Because I saw it!” I yelled back. “I saw it in a vision right after I was in pain. I don’t know how to explain it. Well, maybe I do, I don’t know.”

Christen cuts in. “We think Tobin has powers, just like The Four,” she says bluntly.

“What?” Mac says disbelievingly. “Just because of this one thing, you guys think she is on the level of The Four? That’s laughable.”

“Mac, listen. Dr. Sauerbrunn said The Four might have a bad reaction to the serum after that pulse they sent out, and you saw the way my body freaked once the pulse was sent out. Right after that happens, I get an accurate vision of something that happened in your life. I was _there_ , Mac. I was literally sitting in the car with you. Then, on the way to Christen’s, I get four more visions about people I pass on the street. Keep in mind, this has _never_ happened to me before. Only after the pulse. Is it so far-fetched that I’m like them?”

Mac contemplates this. Silently, he walks to the kitchen table and opens his laptop. Christen and I stand behind him. He simply searches “The Four” and sits back. Once the results come up, he clicks on the first news story.

“What are we looking at?” Christen asks.

I lean in and read the statement released only minutes ago.

_“Dr. Sauerbrunn has confirmed that The Four are healthy and stable. Once the pulse went out, they had a sharp pain in their heads and their sense of hearing was heightened to an inhuman level temporarily. Then they felt pain coursing through the rest of their bodies. This only lasted for about a minute though, and they have all been checked out and cleared. It is likely that their abilities will be announced in the next few days.”_

Once we all stop reading, Christen and Mac slowly turn to look at me.

“I. . . um. . .” I don’t know what to say.

“That is exactly what happened to me. Guys, I swear I didn’t know anything about this.” I turn away from them and put my hands on my head. “This can’t be happening.”

“Well, deal with it Tobin, cuz it's happening. Congratulations. You’re a superhero.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the different fonts were confusing. Bold is when Tobin is having a vision, and italics are her thoughts. I was waiting forever to get up to this point in the story lol.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will probably be a little random. I'm thinking they will be every 2 days, but I'm not sure exactly. I had a hard time with this chapter. Just kept getting stuck on stuff and got writer's block on certain parts. I made it out alive though lol, so here's the chapter. Hope you enjoy!

“I am _not_ a superhero. Do not even say that. My powers are what? Looking into people's shitty memories? Yeah, definitely superhero material,” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“Tobin, do you really have no idea how this happened? I mean, you had to have gotten injected, right?” Christen asks.

“Well, I didn’t. I didn’t even take the trial.”

“You didn’t?”

“We don’t know for sure that whatever this is is anything like The Four. For all we know, Tobin could have had a lucky guess and she could just be tripping,” Mac says.

“I hate you.”

“What?”

“That’s the last thing you said to your dad before the crash. I hate you.”

Mac closes his eyes. 

“Am I _tripping_ now?” I know that it’s harsh, but I need him to believe me and help me figure this out, not think I’m some nutcase.

“Okay okay, let’s just calm down,” Christen interjects. “Tobin, I think you should go to Rein.”

“What!? Absolutely not.”

“Think about it. They are the only ones who can figure this out. And if they do, and you _are_ like The Four, then they can train you and you can be one of them. How cool would that be?”

“I don’t trust Rein, Christen. That’s the whole reason I didn’t take the trial in the first place. Do you really think they would welcome me with open arms? They are gonna wonder how the hell this even happened to me, and I’m gonna turn into their science experiment. I’m gonna figure this out on my own. Besides, I need to find out why this happened to my parents, and I can’t do that trapped in Rein headquarters.”

I don’t tell them that I already know the why, I just don’t know the who. And I need to figure out why my parents stole money from people in the first place. That’s my main priority, powers or no powers.

“Maybe your powers will help you,” Mac says. “If you can see people’s memories, then you can figure out who did it.”

“Yeah, but as of right now, it seems like I only see people’s worst memories that could have happened at any point in their life. I don’t know how that helps.”

“Well, who's to say that the killers' worst memory isn’t what happened?”

_Riiiing. Riiiing. Riiing._

I ponder what Mac said while Christen answers her phone.

“Hello? Oh, um hi, how can I help you? Wait, really? Okay, I’ll see you then. Bye.” Christen hangs up. She looks at me with a worried expression.

“What?” I ask hesitantly.

“That was the police. They want to interview me.”

* * *

  
  


“The only reason they would interview you would be to get information about me. Which means I’m not off the hook as a suspect.”

“The guys that did it were probably professionals, right? They were trained to be ghosts and not get caught. No wonder the police can’t find anything. They probably think you were making the whole thing up,” Christen says.

I groan. “You’re probably right.”

We walk into school and go our separate ways to our lockers. I’m getting books out of my locker when I see people congregating down the hall. _Reminds me of what happened to Kevin._

I walk over to see what’s going on, and I do not like what I see.

Alex is talking to Christen with Julie, Zach, and AD behind her. Christen doesn’t look like she wants to be there, though. She is leaning away from Alex, but can’t escape because of the crowd forming around them.

I push past everyone to get to Christen.

“- don’t know what you said or did to her, but it’s not cool to steal someone’s best friend like that. And then when we try to be friends with you, you act like we are some terrible people, even though Tobin hung out with us for like a year. So I don’t know what your problem is-”

“Christen doesn’t have a problem, Alex.”

“Oh! Speak of the devil. Tobs, you haven’t been shopping with us in forever-”

“I’m not going anywhere with someone who disrespects Chris.”

“ _Chris_ ? Wow, Tobin. You never stopped us from _disrespecting her_ before.”

“I know, and that was a mistake. Now I’m trying to make up for it. Don’t talk to her.” I take a step towards Alex. “Don’t look at her.” I take another step so I’m only a couple inches from her face. “Don’t even _think_ about her. And if it wasn’t already clear enough, you and me,” I move my pointer finger between her and I. “are done.”

“You’re making a big mistake,” she spits back at me.

“No, this is the first right thing I’ve done all year.”

Zach pushes past Alex and pushes me away from her. “You’re gonna regret that, Heath.”

“Tobin, let’s just go. It’s not worth it,” Christen says, pulling at the bottom of my t-shirt.

“C’mon Ertz. You think you can take me?”

Three of Zach’s friends come up behind him. “You really think you can take four of us?” one of them says.

I don’t reply. I just step up to Zach and punch him in the nose.

He tries to hit back, but I duck out of the way. The other guys close in on me, trying to trap me, but I’m fast. I sidestep another punch from Zach and push him into the other three guys. While they are off guard, I punch one guy repeatedly until another one of them pulls me off and throws me against the locker.

“Tobin!” Christen cries.

I get right back up, roll my shoulders, and hit one guy under the jaw, then in the face three times. Zach tackles me to the floor, pins my hands with one hand, and punches me with the other. I move my arms further away from him so he loses his balance and use my hip to push him over so I’m on top of him. Before I or any of the other guys can do anything else, Mrs. Dunn pushes past the circle of kids watching.

“What the hell is going on here!?” she cries. “Tobin, get off him. You seven stay, the rest of you get to class!” Everyone quickly disperses, leaving me, Zach and his boys, Christen, and Alex.

“You are all going to the principal and telling her exactly what happened right now!” She looks at me and her anger disappears. There’s sympathy in her eyes.

As we make our way to the principal’s office, I pull Christen towards me.

“Tobin, what the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten seriously hurt!”

“Yeah but that’s the thing,” I say smiling, and I drop to a whisper. “I got thrown against lockers, tackled to the floor, and punched in the face. And I don’t feel anything except adrenaline. Chris, that’s not normal. This could be part of my powers. I know I’m strong, but since when am I able to fight off four guys?”

“Huh. Do you think all of The Four have more strength and stamina too?”

“I don’t know, but if I have it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did too. How cool is this? Finally, a part of this whole nightmare that I actually like.”

“Besides being friends with me again, right?” Christen asks quietly.

“Chris, of course. You know that’s not what I meant. Our friendship is one of, if not the most important thing to me right now.”

Christen smiles, then goes back to being angry. “Still Tobin. You didn’t know that you have these abilities now. If you got into that fight as a normal person, we might have been calling an ambulance for you. All those guys literally take steroids for football. Getting into a fight with them was stupid, and you can’t deny that.”

“I know, but I’m not sorry. I would do anything for you, Chris.”

We finally arrive at the principal's office. Alex, Zach and I do most of the talking, which almost results in another fight. It was decided for Zach and the boys to get suspended for fighting, Alex was given a warning, and Christen was off the hook. Principal Staal asks me to stay back while everyone else leaves. Christen gives me a worried look and closes the door behind her.

“Tobin,” Staal leans forward and puts her elbows on the desk. “Mrs. Dunn told me that some stuff is going on at home, but she didn’t specify. I’m gonna trust her on this one, and I’m just gonna give you detention for the week instead of suspension. If something is happening that I should know about, then please don’t hesitate to tell me. We will do anything we can to make sure school is a comfortable place for you.”

I give a hesitant smile. “Thanks, Principal Staal. I’ll keep that in mind.” I can’t help but think that I told Mrs. Dunn the same thing. I know that I will probably never tell Staal anything, but I appreciate not getting suspended.

I start to get up, but not before Staal adds, “Oh and Tobin? You have a meeting with Dr. Krieger today. Mrs. Dunn and I discussed it, and we thought that would be best.”

I give a fake smile and leave. I walk down the empty hallway until I hear someone calling my name. I turn to see it’s Allie.

“Hey Tobin. Can we talk for a sec?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“What Alex did was really shitty, and I’m sorry about that. I had no idea she was going to do that. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks Allie.”

“You know that was really dumb though right?” she says teasingly.

“So I’ve heard.” I chuckle.

“Um, I’m sorry in advance if I make you mad, but did something happen that I don’t know about? It’s like all of a sudden you stopped showing up to school and when you did come back, you started only hanging out with the girl you cut off and just ignored us. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, just, I thought you knew you could talk to me,” she says sheepishly.

“You are someone I could talk to, Allie. I’m sorry I randomly stopped talking to you. You’re not like the rest of them. I just. . . things have been complicated recently. Don’t think I don’t trust you, because I do, but I just can’t talk about it right now.”

“Okay, just know I’m here.” She squeezes my shoulder and walks in the other direction.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, too low for her to hear me.

  
  


* * *

  
  


After school, I trudge to Dr. Krieger’s office. I’m going to keep this as short as possible. As long as Principal Staal knows that I went, hopefully she’ll leave me alone for more important things.

“Tobin! Come on in,” she says as I close the door to her office and sit in the stiff chair on the other side of the desk.

“So, I heard you got into a fight today. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” I know being difficult will just make this more painful for both of us, but hopefully she’ll get the message and leave me alone. Not that counselors do that, but whatever. I also don’t want to risk blurting anything out that would be. . . concerning.

“Mrs. Dunn said you were defending your old friend Christen Press. Is that true?”

“Yeah. Alex was giving her shit, so.”

“Language, Tobin.”

“What, it’s true. Do you want me to lie?”

“Mrs. Dunn also said things may be going on at home. Do you want to talk about it? Do you still feel safe-”

How dare she question Abby and Glennon like that. I stand. “Of course I’m safe. What kind of question is that? Whatever, I’m done.”

Dr. Kieger calls out to me as I slam the door. After a minute, I realize what I did. _Great, I just fucked everything. Now they’re gonna think I’m unstable or something. And the last thing I need is someone poking around my personal life right now._

* * *

  
  


I arrive home to Mac and Christen talking at the kitchen table. I texted Christen to meet me at the apartment after school, and I guess she beat me because of my meeting with Dr. Krieger.

“I got a call from the school Tobin. A fight? Really?”

“ _You_ got a call? But they don’t know about-”

“Well, obviously Glennon and Abby didn’t answer, and I’m listed as an emergency contact.”

I brush off the comment about Glennon and Abby like I usually do and join Mac and Christen at the table.

“You know, I still think we should inform the school of the situation, Tobin.”

“Nope. I don’t want the school to think I’m any more fucked up than they already know.”

“Tobin-”

“Just drop it, okay?”

“So, Mac and I were trying to think about how your physical abilities heightened during the fight and how your powers are triggered.”

“What did you come up with?”

“Well, it doesn’t say on the news that The Four are all more physically inclined now too. Looks like they all got their own individual powers.”

“Jeez, why didn’t you lead with that?” I ask, turning on the TV and going to the story that has been playing on a loop since the powers were announced about an hour ago.

“It says that the results are kinda unclear, but Ashlyn Harris has super strength, Megan Rapinoe can change her density, Kelley O’Hara can absorb and convert energy, and Servando can warp reality. Damn.”

“I don’t know how being able to change your density is a personality trait, but I guess we’ll never know,” Christen jokes.

“I don’t think they are telling us everything,” I say.

“I agree,” Mac says. “They are only telling us their strengths, not their weaknesses. Rein doesn’t want the public to even consider the possibility that they have weaknesses.”

“We also don’t know how powerful their abilities are, and if they can even control them,” Christen adds.

“Well, it doesn’t say anything about physical abilities besides with Ashlyn, but that’s her main power, so I guess it’s just a me thing unless they left that part out of the news report. All of their powers are dope, though. What can I do? Live in people's worst memories? That’s helpful.”

“You should be grateful for the fact that you got anything at all,” Christen says angrily.

“I rather be normal than have these powers.”

“Okay guys! Chill, I know you are just learning to become friends again, but c’mon. Back to what we were talking about before, Christen and I think your ability to see memories is triggered when you touch someone, skin-to-skin.”

“And I agreed except for the fact that you didn’t get a vision during the fight. Not one that you told me about, anyway.”

“Actually, that would make sense. You grabbed my arm and I got the vision the first time, and there were a lot of people on the street yesterday so people were brushing up against my arms a lot. And no, I didn’t get a vision during the fight, though. That’s a good point.”

“Well, there’s an easy way to figure this out. Just touch my arm and see if you see the vision again.”

“You want me to see it again? I don’t even know if I want to, Mac. I don’t know if I can relive it.”

“I mean, it’s up to you. I don’t really want you to see it either. But I don’t really think you have a choice if you wanna figure this out.”

“Unless you go to Rein, which I still think you should,” Christen says.

“Fine, fine.” I talk a breath and walk up to Mac. I hesitate before touching his outstretched arm. “Do you think I can pull out of it early?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, now that you know what it is a little more.”

I nod and wrap my fingers around his forearm.

**I’m strapped into the same seat as I was the first time. Everything is the same, from Mac leaning his head against the window to his dad accelerating the speed of the car.**

**_Okay, I got my proof. Now, how do I get out of here?_ **

**I try to tune out the conversation and how fast the car is going. When the car flipped the first time. . . I’ve never been more scared in my life. I have to figure out how to pull myself out before it gets to that point.**

**Mac just told his parents about the engagement. I close my eyes and try to disconnect myself from what’s going on. It’s not working. I start to panic.** **_No no no. Get out get out get out._ **

**“Not until Mac says he will take back the engagement.”**

**“What?! No way.”**

**“Fine.” The car goes faster. Almost 100 miles per hour.**

**“Please just stop for one second!” I yell. I know Mac’s dad can’t hear me, but I can’t help it. I’m scared as hell.**

**“I hate you!”**

**“Just breathe, you’re okay. Just breathe, you’re okay.” I chant.**

**“Rob, watch out!”**

**We’re flipping. This time I count. Three times.**

**Finally, we stop. I plug my ears to muffle Mac’s screams and close my eyes to block his dead dad from my vision.**

I open my eyes. I’m panting hard. 

“Here, sit,” Christen said, guiding me to the couch. I sit and put my head in my hands, trying to control my breathing.

Mac sits next to me. “Are you okay?” I look at him like _really?_ and he laughs. “Sorry, obviously not. It’s just that you didn’t react this way the first time.”

“Yeah because I knew what was coming this time. Plus last time I thought it was just a dream. I didn’t know it was real.” 

"Were you able to pull out before. . ."

"No. How long was I out?"

"Like, a second. If I didn't know you were having a vision, I would have never even realized it."

Despite being completely freaked out, I feel good. Physically. Like I can run forever. Or. . . fight four steroid-induced football players.

“Oh shit, that’s why,” I whisper.

“What?” Christen and Mac ask at the same time.

“I think it’s the visions. When I go into them, even though they’re horrible and make me mentally feel like shit, I physically feel great after. Like stronger and more focused.”

“Like their you’re fuel, in a way,” Christen says.

“Right. Exactly.”

“Fight me.”

“What?”

Mac stands up. “If we had like, a real fight, I think as a grown man, I _should_ win. So, let’s see if you can beat me right now. And then we’ll try again later.”

“Okay. This will be fun.” 

We push the couch and table up against the walls to give us room. Christen stands off to the side, recording it on her phone. Mac glares at her. “For observational purposes,” she rationalizes.

We circle each other. I let him punch me first. It’s hard and uncomfortable, but I quickly recover. I fake right and hit him in the jaw with a left hook. While he’s off balance, I sweep his feet off the ground with my leg, and I’m on top of him. I pin his hands and put myself in a vulnerable position. I want to see how I recover if he manages to do anything. He tries to use pure strength to throw me off him, but I hold my ground. Mac growls in anger, and finally uses his hip to push me off of him. I get up quickly. Once he stands, I punch, but he blocks it and replies with a punch of his own. My anger gets the best of me, and I grab his shoulders and hit him in the gut with my knee. He falls. I put one knee on his chest and start punching his face repeatedly. 

“Okay, Tobin! You won! Let go!” Christen pulls me off.

I stand, breathing hard. Mac is still on the ground catching his breath.

“What the hell Tobin! That was unnecessary,” Christen scolds. I look down at my hands. At the blood on them. “Oh shit. Mac, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean. . .”

He gets up in a sitting position and wipes the blood pouring from his nose with the back of his hand. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I could’ve-”

“It’s fine, Tobin,” he assures me. “I’m gonna get my nose checked out. It might be broken.”

“It _might_?” Christen yells.

“I’m gonna go clean up. I’ll be back for dinner. Just order a pizza or something.” Mac gets up and pats my shoulder before shutting himself in the bathroom.

Christen turns to me with an angry and questioning look on her face. “I’m sorry,” I say. “Fighting for real was the only way we could have known. And I got carried away. I don’t know what got into me. I’m sorry.”

“You said that already,” Christen says with a huff.

I hang my head. We sit in silence for a while after Mac leaves, the silence only broken by Christen ordering the pizza.

“You would tell me if there was something else going on right? Or were you just taking your anger out from. . . everything that happened.”

“There’s nothing else going on.” Lie. “And I don’t know. I guess. I hate the idea that I took it out on Mac, though. All he’s done is help me.”

Christen looks down, not knowing how to reply. 

“Look, I know you’re mad at me, but we need to talk about this police interview tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to lie?”

“I. . . I don’t know. They obviously think I’m a suspect. My past doesn’t really help anything. Hell, this fight I just had at school doesn’t help. They will definitely find out about that. But that’s beside the point. You can’t lie about my past, because they will know that you're lying, but you can lie about my reactions to everything. As long as you make them believe I’m not unstable enough to do something as horrible as kill my guardians then we’re good to go.”

“I’ll try. I have no idea what they are gonna ask in there, though.”

“I know you’ll do the best you can. Just. . . don’t make me look bad,” I say with a smirk.

“Deal.”

We end the night smiling and laughing, but the uncertainties of the future loom in the backs of our minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preath is coming soon. Told you it was a slow burn lol.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayyy so totally don't listen to me when I make a posting schedule, bc it's just gonna be random. Sorry, time just got away from me and a lot is going on right now, as you all know. Anyway, this chapter alternates between Tobin POV and Christen POV. Hope you enjoy!

**Tobin POV**

“Oh my gosh, you were so embarrassed!” Christen laughs, putting her coffee down so she doesn’t spill it. "Trying to do a split in front of your crush to impress them and splitting your pants is like, peak embarrassment Tobs. I felt horrible but I couldn't stop laughing!"

“Don’t make fun of me, Christen! That was a scarring experience,” I laugh back.

We are sitting in a coffee shop down the street from the school after school ended. We’re rehashing old memories from before everything went down, and I haven’t laughed like this in a long time.

“So, after the fight, which I’m still mad about by the way, we have become quite popular.”

“Yeah, I know. We are either hated or loved, there’s no in-between.”

“Yeah, I either get high fives in the hallway or things thrown at me.”

“Yeah, well ever since Servando left, Alex has less power.”

“Wow, I feel like we’re talking about a kingdom, not a school.”

“Ha! Yeah, it feels like that sometimes.”

A woman passes our table and spills her coffee, spilling some drops on me. “Oh my gosh, sweetie I’m so sorry. Today has just been such a terrible day!”

Christen runs to grab napkins while I bend down to pick up the coffee cup. The woman bends down as well, and right before our hands meet on the coffee cup, I quickly pull away. I see Christen staring at the scene from the corner of my eye.

“It’s totally okay, don’t worry about it,” I say quickly, grabbing some napkins from Christen. Once the woman leaves to buy another cup of coffee, I slump back in my seat relieved. “Maybe I should start wearing gloves or something,” I joke.

“Yeah. Who knows, you could have had a vision of her terrible day. She looks pretty stressed.”

“I feel like all this Pestis stuff is just amplifying people’s stress levels. Did you see what happened during that Thorns v. Sky Blue game a couple days ago?”

“Yeah, luckily they got everyone out in time. They probably didn't go off because they just didn’t want to waste their precious bombs on an empty stadium.”

“Well when they release a statement about bombing the stadium before they do it, what did they think was gonna happen? Everyone was gonna hang around anyway?”

“I know right? Weird.”

We finish our coffees before going back to the apartment to meet with Mac. We take the long way through the park, walking slowly, just enjoying each other's company.

“How is your family? I know I’m pulling you away from them a lot lately. I never really thought about it until now.”

“They’re good! Mal keeps sneaking off to her secret boyfriend’s house and still wonders why her grades are dropping,” Christen laughs. “She thinks I don’t know about it, but she’s being so obvious that I don’t even have to be home a lot to notice. My parents are good too. Kinda the same, honestly. Mom got a raise recently though, so she’s been happy. And don’t worry about keeping me from them, I still have family game night with them on Sunday’s, so we catch up then.”

“Oh. That’s great,” I say flatly.

Christen senses she said something wrong. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she says, kicking a rock off the sidewalk.

“Talk to me. Did I say something wrong?”

“No. Just, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have asked,” she mumbles the last part.

“Why?” And then it clicks for Christen. Besides Abby and Glennon for the short time they had together, Tobin has never had a family that she could play games with, or ones that cared enough about her to know the little things, or any things at all. I was basically bragging about my wonderful family in her face. _How are you such an idiot?_

“Tobs, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking-”

“Chris, I promise you it’s okay. Don’t worry, please. It’s my fault for even bringing it up. I want to know about your family. Don’t feel bad about your happiness with them.”

The rest of the way to the apartment is silent. I feel bad for making her uncomfortable. I hate how I want to know what being a part of a close family is like, but then it always pains me to hear about it.

When we arrive at the apartment, Mac is on break, sipping coffee and typing on his laptop in the kitchen. “Four ceremony tonight. What are we thinking?”

“Hi Mac, I’m good thanks, how are you?” I say, rolling my eyes.

Mac turns around in his chair to face us. “I think we should go.”

Tonight, there is a ceremony for The Four where they get to showcase their powers and have the public thank them for all the stuff they didn’t even do yet. Personally, I don’t want to go. Even though I chose not to go to Rein, I’m jealous of the special treatment they get by the public. I would never tell anybody that, though. “Nah, I’m okay, Mac.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how I’m gonna be feeling after this police interrogation,” Christen says nervously.

“C’mon guys. You have to admit it would be cool to see in person. Plus Christen, maybe if Tobin sees them and other members of Rein in person, maybe she will change her mind about joining them.”

“Okay, we’re going!”

“Chris! C’mon, help me out here.”

“Nope, I still think Rein is the best option.”

“No way. Sorry.”

“Why? Just cuz they give you a bad vibe? Live a little Tobin! Look, I hate to say it, but we can’t really do anything about the investigation. Let the police handle it. Going to Rein and building up your powers might help you figure out what happened even more than not being there! You would think after all the abuse and heartbreak you’ve endured, you would want to help prevent it from happening to other people.”

“Wow Christen, that was a low blow,” I scoff. “Neither of you know anything. I make my own decisions. I’m not going to Rein. Final. Don’t fucking question me.”

“I literally don’t see any reason why you would be opposed-”

“I can’t help anyone! Don’t you get it! Everyone around me fucks with me and I just let it happen. Every. Time. You know what? Say whatever the hell you want in the interview. Stab me in the back like everyone else.” And with that, I grab my coat and leave, slamming the door behind me.

* * *

**Christen POV**

I’m sitting in a stale, uncomfortable room with only a desk and two chairs in it. I’ve been waiting for a police officer for ten minutes to come question me. There’s no air conditioning. It’s hot as hell. While I’m waiting, I think about the fight I had with Tobin earlier. She can’t get mad at me for not understanding when she doesn't tell me anything. I just want what’s best for her. The Tobin I know would be jumping at the chance to help make the world a better place, especially since she has seen how shitty the world can be first hand. Tobin’s keeping secrets, and it’s straining our already tentative relationship. 

No matter what though, I won’t stab her in the back. I trust her, now she just has to trust me. If I make her look good in this interview, maybe she'll trust me a little more and open up. A girl can dream.

A blonde police officer walks in and drops in the seat across from me, lazily tossing the file on the desk.

“Hi Christen. My name is Officer Sonnett. I’m going to be asking you some questions about Tobin Heath today.” She carefully places a recorder on the desk and turns it on.

Officer Sonnett opens the file. “Alright. I understand you have been friends with Miss Heath for quite some time now?”

“Yeah. Since we were five.”

“So you have been there through everything? Her parents leaving her and her siblings, her and her siblings getting split up into different group homes after the failed attempt at foster care, her being taken in by Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle, and their death?”

“Yep. Was there for all of it.” I don’t mention that we didn’t talk this past year. I don’t want Sonnett asking why. I don’t really know myself, and that might not look good for Tobin.

“How would you say she was treated in every home she lived in?”

“I don’t really remember when she lived with her biological parents and siblings too well, but I do know that everything was fine and normal, from what Tobin told me anyway, and that one day they just left unexpectedly with no explanation. Her first foster home was terrible, they didn’t abuse her, but they never gave her and her siblings anything to eat or drink, and they slept on the floor. I remember being separated from the rest of her family was really hard, and the group home wasn’t good to her either. There were a lot of older kids there that would pick on her and abuse her, the adults too. She lived there the longest. Then she was taken in by Glennon and Abby and that was by far her best living situation. They really cared about Tobin.”

“When she wasn’t in good living situations, how did she react to that?”

“She would talk to me or our school counselor, but not give enough information for us to really do anything. She never did anything rash, so it was hard to tell anything was happening to her.” _Not true, but_ _hopefully that’s a good answer._

“So you’re saying she held it all in?”

“Um, no? She-”

“Was there any incident where she exploded from holding it in or did something she now regrets?”

“No! I just told you she never did anything rash.”

“So you don’t know about this then?” Officer Sonnett opens the file and turns it so I can see. I grab one of the papers and look closely. It shows a girl with her back to the surveillance camera pointing a gun at a guy cowering on the ground. “You can’t prove this is her.”

“Look closer.”

On the second look, I see that the guy on the ground is one of the bullies from the group home. Also, the girl just looks like Tobin, based on her light brown hair and lanky frame.

“I-, she didn’t do this. Tobin wouldn’t kill anyone.”

“Christen, this is very important. The story she told us about the double homicide just doesn’t check out. We didn’t find fingerprints or footprints in the apartment, and we can’t find anything on these guys she was describing. Nothing adds up except Tobin killed her parents as a reaction to everything she’s been through, and then staged it as a kidnapping in her own home. Now, are you really going to defend her and say that’s not her? Even with the motive she had? Miss Press, I can guarantee you that is Tobin Heath in the photo. Is it so far fetched that she killed her guardians too?”

I’m in shock and close to crying. I haven’t talked to Tobin during the year she was with Glennon and Abby. Maybe she really has changed for the worst. Maybe she was lying to me.

I open my mouth but nothing comes out. 

Officer Sonnett smiles at me apologetically. “How would you describe Tobin’s relationship with Abby and Glennon in your perspective?”

_Now I don’t know whether to lie or not._ “I. . . um.”

“Christen, please answer honestly. We are trying to catch a killer, and we need your help.”

“Like I said, her living situation with Abby and Glennon was the best by far. She was happy with them. Tobin had no reason to kill them and she doesn’t have the capability for it either.” I stand and move toward the door.

Sonnett sighs. “Christen, the evidence is all there. When you see her, pay closer attention. I need you to report to the station immediately if there is something that concerns you or if there's something you remember. If we don’t put her behind bars, you may be next.”

* * *

**Tobin POV**

The sun finally set. That must mean the ceremony is starting soon. 

I’ve been wandering the city ever since my fight with Christen. Stewing in my anger.

I’m too proud to admit it, but not trusting Rein isn’t the only reason I’m hesitant towards them. It’s more like I don’t trust myself. Don’t trust myself to protect other people. Everyone that was supposed to care about me didn’t. My parents left me, I was neglected and abused in my foster home and group home, and Abby and Glennon were lying and committing fraud behind my back. I let all of it happen. It’s all my fault. How am I supposed to protect people when I can’t even protect myself?

And The Four? They make me sick. They really think they could just get some suits and some abilities and they are able to stop one of the biggest threats America has ever seen? They give people false hope. Rein is sending kids to do their dirty work. They all act excited for what’s happening to them, but they don’t understand that they are being thrown into a _war_. They will never be ready for that. They are getting treated like royalty both in Rein and with the public and they haven’t even done anything. All of their lives are probably perfect. I know Servando’s was, and now it’s probably even better. 

Why do I even have these powers? I have no idea how I got them. But I did, and compared to The Four’s powers, mine are pretty shitty. Now I’m stuck with living in nightmares for the rest of my life. But it did give me one good thing. Strength. Focus. Accuracy. Maybe it’s time to test The Four so we can see if they are really capable of helping the country.

* * *

**Christen POV**

I burst into the apartment, startling Mac to stand from the couch. He pulls the phone from his ear. “Have you heard from-”

“No, you haven’t either?” I ask frantically.

“What’s wrong? Don’t worry, she’ll come back.”

I’m crying now. I can’t help it. I don’t know if I should tell Mac or not. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. 

“Chris, what happened? What did they say to you?”

“I-, they. . .” I manage to get out between sobs. “Do you really think she didn’t kill them?” I whisper. Mac stares at me expressionless. He looks down. Almost like he’s had the same question.

“We need to look for her, okay?” I nod. “Do you have any ideas?” he asks me.

“I don’t know. When she ran away it was always random where she went. She always just wandered around the city.”

Just then, all the jumbotrons around the city come on. We watch through the windows as they advertise the ceremony starting in just a half-hour.

“You don’t think. . .”

“I know she didn’t want to go, but I don’t think she’ll be able to resist.”

* * *

**Tobin POV**

I’m trapped in the middle of the throngs of people who came out for the ceremony. I take a deep breath, calming my nerves. Tight spaces were never really my thing.

I don’t have to remind myself why I’m here, though. My brain is clouded with hate, both for The Four, and honestly? For myself. Unfortunately for them, they are the ones that are gonna get hurt from it. Oh well.

As I walk past people, I put my arm out, letting people bump against me.

**I’m in a bright yellow kitchen. There’s a man pacing back and forth with his iPhone to his ear. It goes to voicemail again. He yells out in frustration, throws the phone on the couch, and sits on it, staring at the TV. I join him on the couch.**

**He puts his elbows on his knees as he watches, tears streaming down his face. The TV shows a plane crash. Thirty-five confirmed dead. Eighteen in critical condition. The plane is in Canada. The guy couldn’t even do anything if he wanted to.**

**“This is all my fault,” he says, silently weeping. “I told her to go. I should have told her to stay. That our anniversary was more important than this stupid business trip. I should've just told her to stay. What’s wrong with me?”**

**He calls five more times. All to voicemail. After ten minutes, the phone rings. The guy fumbles the phone before he answers with a frantic “Kelsey?”**

**Suddenly, he bursts into tears. I can’t tell if they are happy or sad. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Thank you for calling. Call me if she wakes up.” He hangs up and immediately rushes to his room to throw clothes randomly into his suitcase, then he closes the door and I’m all alone.**

I could feel his fear. It was deep and disturbing and sad. I don’t know if Kelsey ever made it, but I’m assuming she did considering that’s not what I saw. I quickly regroup and brush up against yet another person.

**I’m on a football field. Thousands of college students are in the stands. It’s so loud I wouldn’t be able to hear myself. The two teams are running back on the field for the second quarter. After further inspection, I realize I’m at Clemson. I step off to the sidelines to avoid the players, even though I know they can’t hurt me. I scan the field and the stands, but I have no idea who’s memory this is.**

**The play starts. The quarterback gets the ball and holds it, scanning the field for a good pass. He finds it in a wide receiver running up the sideline. He throws it far down the field. The whole stadium is holding its breath. The wide receiver jumps up to grab the ball, but not before the defender rams into him. The defender falls on top of the wide receiver, and immediately jumps up to celebrate the stop with his teammates. The wide receiver, number 11, doesn’t get up.**

**I run over to see what happened. He yelling out and cursing, holding his shoulder. The medical team surrounds him.**

**“It’s his shoulder again,” one of them says. The silence in the stadium is deafening.**

**He doesn’t say it, but I can just feel his anger and disappointment. Somehow, I know he was trying to get into the NFL, there were teams scouting him actually, but this is one shoulder injury too many. It’s over for him. And now he has no idea what he’s gonna do for the rest of his life.**

**The medical team carries him off the field on a stretcher, taking his dreams with him.**

I look around to see who’s memory I saw, but I can’t find him. I quickly shake it off and continue. I see about five more memories, all as depressing as the next one. I don’t want to do this, but I have to. I can feel myself getting more centered and calm, but focused on what I want to do. I could feel the power coursing through my veins.

* * *

**Christen POV**

Mac and I arrive right before the ceremony starts. Rain begins to fall lightly over the mass of standing people. We scan the crowd for Tobin, but there’s so many people that finding her will be next to impossible. Mac and I have been calling her phone, but either she can’t hear the ringing or is choosing to ignore it. Hopefully it’s the former.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” Dr. Sauerbrunn booms into the mic, walking on the empty stage. The crowd cheers.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate a new era, a beacon of hope. The Four have been training relentlessly, perfecting their new abilities. It is my honor to present them to you tonight. They are ready to move on from their training and go out into the field to stop Pestis. Here they are. The Four! Don’t forget who made our future victory possible!” Everyone cheers again.

“Tobin!” I call out. I know it’s no use, but we need to find her. I need to talk to her, clear this up. It’s just one big misunderstanding. Right?

The Four walk out on stage, and the noise is deafening. I’m not gonna lie, I am kinda starstruck seeing them up there in person. Their sleek blue suits just make them look _powerful._ I imagine Tobin in the suit and I shudder. From attraction or fear I can’t tell.

Ashlyn Harris steps up first. For some reason she looks pissed off. There is a man on the other side of the stage pointing a gun at her. She rushes at him. He fires. Everyone gasps. Ashlyn runs straight through the bullet and pushes the man so he goes flying into the padded mat ten feet behind him. Everyone is silent, then bursts into applause. 

“Wow, I thought they just said she had super strength!” Mac yells over the crowd. I shrug. Once everyone finally starts to calm down, I yell Tobin’s name over and over again. No response that I could hear.

Next up is Megan Rapinoe, who demonstrates how not even Ashlyn can pick her up when her density is high and how a bullet basically goes through her when her density is low. Then, Kelley O’Hara transports energy from a lightbulb into her body and shoots the energy from her hands into a man covered head to toe in special protective padding. He flies about ten feet and hits the ground. Lastly is Servando. Dr. Sauerbrunn warns the audience that this one is hard to demonstrate because it is mental, so you can’t physically see it. The volunteer stands on the opposite side of the stage from Servando, who looks like he is staring focused towards the woman. Suddenly, she’s crouching with her hands above her head, protecting herself from something we can’t see. Everyone looks at each other, confused. Servando stops whatever he is doing and the woman shakily gets up and leaves the stage. Dr. Sauerbrunn walks on stage and explains that Servando warped her mind into thinking that everything was closing in around her, making her claustrophobic. The crowd nods their heads and cheered. The Four all stand together and bow. 

I text Tobin again.

Christen: Where are u? We need 2 talk. Text me back.

* * *

**Tobin POV**

The applause erupts once The Four all grab hands and bow on stage. At this point, my blood is past boiling. 

_Why do they get special treatment? Why are they so loved even when they haven’t even done anything that’s worth the praise? Why do I get shitty powers when they aren’t even better than I am as people? Why does this always happen to me?_

I try to stop the string of negativity, but it’s impossible. I used to be able to shove it all down and forget about it, but not now. Now the anger is building up, and there’s nothing to stop it.

“Tobin!” I hear faintly. Sounds like Christen. _Fuck, why now?_

The Four let go of each other's hands and are about to walk over to the audience for autographs. I can feel the power from the visions coursing through my veins. I feel good. Strong.

_Let’s see what I can really do._

I focus on the roof that was built over the stage to combat the light rain. I can feel the power rush to my head like blood. Except it’s painful. But the hate overshadows the pain. I have tunnel vision. I don’t see Alex and Mac spot me and start running over to me, calling my name. 

I close my eyes and direct my power to the roof with my mind. I shouldn't be certain that it will work, but I am. I can feel it.

I focus until the power leaves me, and the roof falls down on The Four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cliffhanger!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry its been a while. This is my longest chapter though, so at least there's that. The character POVs change a lot in this chapter. I never really planned on doing that, the story was really just supposed to be Tobin's POV, but I just go by what feels right. Here's chapter 10!

**Kelley POV**

All these people are cheering for me. Well, and for the rest of the team. But, like, their cheering for  _ me _ . I’m so in my head that I barely register how the cheers turn into screams.

Everyone is looking up and pointing. I look up too. The roof is coming down on us. I’m standing still, just staring until Pinoe pushes me and Servando to the side. With her powers, the roof won’t hurt her. Me? I’d be a goner.

Everyone cringes, ready for the big crash that never comes. I open my eyes to see Ash struggling to hold the ceiling. 

“Ash! You good?” I yell from my spot on the side. She doesn’t reply, just gives me a glare before going back to her pained expression. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I want to do something, but there’s nothing I can do in a situation like this. Well, I guess I can yell at people.

“Everyone get back! Ashy’s got this under control. Noooooothing to worry about.”

Pinoe rolls her eyes and starts helping me escort everyone from the street. I look back to see Ash struggling. Servando’s trying to tell her to hold on until everyone leaves and until people come that can help, but she doesn’t look like she’s gonna make it much longer.

A loud speeding vehicle pulls my attention from her. A crane barrels it’s way down the street, making everyone split like the Red Sea so it can pass through. “Thank goodness!” I say, exasperated. I run up on stage to Ashlyn, who’s starting to sweat. “Look, help is coming. Just hang in there a little longer.”

“Hey, I was the one giving the pep talk,” Servando wined.

“Are you. . . seriously. . . the one. . . complaining right now?!” Ashlyn manages to get out.

I laugh loudly and pat Serv on the back before we move out of the way to let the crane pick the roof off Ashlyn’s shoulders.

Once she can stand again, she walks up to the three of us with a glare. “Our first real life rescue and you all just stand back and let me do the work. Typical.”

“Hey, what was I supposed to do!?” Serv said.

“I don’t know, maybe not be all up in my face the whole time,” Ash says, getting up in his face to make her point.

“I was trying to-”

“Guys, guys, let's just chill. We, mostly Ashy, just saved the day! Isn’t that awesome? Let’s be happy!” I say, but the staring contest between the two of them doesn’t let up.

Luckily, Dr. Sauerbrunn comes up to us, effectively ending the stare down. “Good job today everyone. Both with the presentation and the roof collapsing. This has been a very good first step. You’ve shown the public that you are capable of saving them at any given moment. The trust of the people is key.”

“Thanks Doc. I rather not have my doctor on my bad side, so your praise is welcomed and reassuring.” I put my arm around her shoulders.

She pushes my arm off of her. “Right. Well, that was the good news.”

Pinoe sighs dramatically, tilting her head all the way back. “Do I even want to know what the bad news is?”

Dr. Sauerbrunn ignores Pinoe and stares at us intently.“The roof collapsing? That was no accident. We are being attacked. And not from Pestis.”

* * *

**Tobin POV**

Screaming. Pushing. Crying.

People are pushing past me, but I stand still and let them hit me. I’m numb. I didn’t think that would actually work.

Christen and Mac have a harder time getting to me because of everyone running, but they eventually reach me. Christen has her hands on my shoulders, shaking me. I look at her with empty eyes. She takes a step back. Mac grabs my shoulders and pushes me with the crowd, Christen following behind. I faintly hear Kelley O’Hara yelling out orders to the crowd as I’m quickly escorted away.

Before I even realize what’s happening, I’m standing in a dark abandoned building about a block from the ceremony. Dust flies everywhere. I focus on it hovering in the light coming from the broken windows.

“Tobin, you need to focus on me.” Mac still has one hand on my shoulder and the other snapping in my face. Christen has tear tracks down her face.

“T, what happened? Please say something. Did you do that?” I don’t reply. I’m trying to focus on his face, but it’s hard.

_ I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe it worked. Fuck, what did I do? _

“We should bring her back to the apartment.”

“Do you want me to call a cab?”

“No, can you run back to the apartment building and bring my car around.” He throws Christen the keys. “I’m in the spot closest to the entrance. Don’t draw any attention to yourself.”

Christen runs to the doorway but slows when she gets on the sidewalk. Mac refocuses on me. “Hey, T, you’re okay buddy. We’re gonna figure this out. Together. Trust me, okay?”

I give him a weak smile. He gives me a watery smile back.

We move to sit against the wall, my back leaning against Mac’s front as we wait for Christen to honk the horn outside.

* * *

**Christen POV**

Mac gets in the back with Tobin, and I speed down the street, slowing down when Mac tells me to. I look in the rearview mirror. Mac has his arm around Tobin’s shoulders, whispering to her. I feel a pang of jealousy. I should be the one doing that. But then I remember everything I saw and was told at the police station, and I change my mind. After all these years, I might not know the girl in the backseat at all. The thought burns a hole through my chest.

We arrive at the apartment building after only a couple of minutes. Tobin isn’t letting Mac touch her anymore. He sticks closely to her though. I trail behind awkwardly.

Once we get to Mac’s apartment, he leads Tobin to the couch. She sits while he gets her a glass of water. I go to sit next to her cautiously.

Tobin laughs darkly. “Think I should go to Rein now Christen? I don’t know how long they would last with me there.”

“Did you do that to the roof?” I ask quietly, already knowing the answer.

“Yep,” she replied, popping the “p”. “Pretty cool, right?” She laughs again.

This is such a drastic change from just a couple of minutes ago that I don’t know how to react.  Officer Sonnett’s words echo in my head.  _ If we don’t put her behind bars, you may be next. _

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I whisper, staring straight ahead. Tobin stands. “So much Chris, you have no idea.” Mac hands her the water and tries to get her to sit back down, but she refuses.

“I mean, damn, can you believe I can do that? I can literally move things with my mind. That’s fucking wild. And I mean, they deserved it. It was good for them anyway. A nice, unexpected test. And they passed! They should be thanking me really.”

This isn’t the Tobin I know. The Tobin I know wouldn’t want to hurt anyone. No matter how much she thought they deserved it.

“Tobs, let’s just sit for a second okay? Clearly we can’t talk about this now until you process it, so let’s just relax,” Mac tries to reason.

She throws the glass of water against the wall, shattering it. I gasp. Mac hugs her from behind before she does anything else, trying to avoid the bare skin on her arms. She fights, but then gives up and hangs limply. Then she turns in his arms and wraps her arms around him, burying her head into his shoulder.

“Why did I do that?” she cries into his shoulder. He doesn’t reply, just holds her until the crying stops. 

“Let’s just go to bed, okay? We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

Mac leads Tobin to her bedroom, leaving me in the living room alone. I grab the broom and dustpan from the closet and sweep the glass off the floor. After sweeping and drying the floor, I sit back on the couch and wait for Mac. I turn the TV on to distract myself, which is a mistake because the only thing on TV is the incident at the ceremony. I shut the TV off and chuck the remote on the couch in frustration. I sit and stare at the blank TV, lost in thought until Mac comes out an hour later.

“Sorry, she wanted me to stay with her until she fell asleep.”

“That’s okay,” I say quietly, moving to make room for him on the couch.

Mac sighs. “So. That was unexpected.”

I scoff. “Yeah, you can say that.”

“She just wasn’t thinking. These powers are overwhelming and she doesn’t know how to control them yet. It was probably just an accident.”

“Did you not hear a word she said?! Didn’t sound like an accident to me.”

Mac shakes his head. “Since when are you so against Tobin? She’ll explain it tomorrow and you’ll see. Don’t you trust her?”

I look down, the tears brimming my eyes.

“Chris, what?”

“I need to tell you something.” I tell him all about what happened at the police interview, what they told me and the picture I saw. Mac’s silent through the whole thing. I don’t know what his reaction is. I can’t even look him in the eye.

It’s quiet for a few minutes after I finish. Finally, he speaks. “I don’t-, no, Tobin wouldn’t do that. She’s such a good kid, she wouldn’t do that.”

“Maybe we don’t know her as much as we thought we did Mac. Which is scary as hell. Now that she has these abilities, who knows what she’ll do with them. If she can kill without them. . .”

“No, don’t say it like you know it’s true. We need to talk to Tobin about it.”

“And you really think she would tell the truth if it is true? C’mon Mac, we’re the only people she has left, she would do anything to salvage that. Not that she’s been showing it lately,” I mumble the last part.

“Let’s just get some sleep and figure this out tomorrow. We’re all exhausted, and nothing will come from talking about it now.”

I nod. He bids me goodnight and disappears into his room, leaving me in the living room alone once again. I text my mom that I’m safe and spending the night at Tobin’s house. Now I just sit. 

Where should I sleep? The couch is uncomfortable. Which isn’t the real reason I don’t want to sleep there, but that’s what I tell myself. I don’t want to be with Tobin after all of this. Surely not.

I stand and make my way to Tobin’s room. I slowly push the door open and stick my head in. It’s pitch black, so I wait for my eyes to adjust. Tobin is laying on her side facing away from me, the covers up to her neck. I pad to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Once I’m done, I gingerly lift the covers and lay next to Tobin. I lean over to make sure she’s still sleeping. When I confirm that she is, in fact, asleep, I wrap my arm around her and lay my head on her pillow. 

“What’s going on in your head, Tobin? What have you done that you haven’t told me?” I whisper.

I fall asleep before I hear Tobin weep quietly beside me.

* * *

I wake up to the sunlight streaming through the windows. We are still in the same position as last night with my arm around Tobin’s waist. She’s still sleeping soundly next to me. Not wanting to wake her up, I slowly detach myself from her and tiptoe to the bathroom to get ready for the day. We have school today, but neither of us would have been in the right headspace to go, so I didn’t set an alarm.

I change into gray sweats and a light blue shirt with the word “SENIORS” in big white block letters across the chest. Mac is already in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee. He pours another one and hands it to me.

“She still sleeping?”

“Yeah surprisingly. I don’t think I would have slept at all if I was her.”

“Well let’s take what we can get.”

Right on cue, a disoriented Tobin walks into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She’s wearing black sweats and a light gray soccer shirt from when she played on the high school team. She sits at the table, puts her elbows on it, and drops her head into her arms. Mac and I look at each other, not really knowing what to do. We just stand there awkwardly waiting for Tobin to say something. At this rate, we might be waiting forever.

Two cups of coffee later, Tobin speaks up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left. I know you were just trying to help. And after. . . I’m sorry about that too. I’m just. . . sorry.”

I sit across from her. She lifts her head from the table and meets my eyes. I take her hand in mine. I forget that she might get a vision from this, but when she doesn’t pull away, I take that as a good sign that she’s present. “What happened at the ceremony?”

“I was just so angry. At you, at The Four. At everything. So I started looking into people’s memories, and even though they suck, the power that comes from it is kinda addicting, you know? I thought they should be, I don’t know, punished? Like I didn’t understand why their lives were so great and what they did to deserve what they had. I just kinda lost it. I’ve never felt like that before.” She starts to tear up. “I could have hurt someone.”

“But you didn’t, and that’s what matters.”

“How did you do that? The telekinesis thing?” Mac chimes in from his spot leaning against the counter.

“I don’t know. It was weird. Like I somehow knew that I could do it even though I’ve never even thought about it.”

“Can you do it now?”

“No.”

“What? You didn’t even try.”

“I know. I just know. I can’t right now.”

“So basically you have to see horrible memories to be able to do it,” I stated bluntly.

“I guess. It only lasted for like one second before I was gassed out though.”

Mac throws his head back in annoyance and meets us at the table. “T, this is getting out of hand. I know you don’t want to go to Rein, but there are no more options. This is getting dangerous, and they are the only ones who can help you. You might hurt someone or yourself if this keeps going.”

“You’re right.” Mac and I look at each other in surprise. “It’s too much now, and I need someone to help me figure it out. Still, I don’t trust Rein and I don’t want them to turn me into one of their little experiments. So, I have a proposition.”

“I have a feeling I’m not gonna like this.”

Tobin smirks. “I have to go in there and see it for myself before making my decision.”

“What, so you think you can just waltz in there and get the grand tour?”

“No, I’m gonna break in.”

* * *

**Tobin POV**

“No. Stop asking.”

I’ve been trying to get Christen to help with my plan all day. I’ve never told you this, but she’s kinda a tech genius. She's tech support for the tech support at our school. All she has to do is fix us up some comms and pull up a map of the facility and I'll be good to go.

“You do realize that getting the layout is next to impossible right?”

“You said next to. Not impossible.”

“You won’t even be able to get in.”

“Yes I will! I just have to grab Alex’s keycard off her. Easy.” Since she’s Servando’s girlfriend, she got a keycard to the main Rein facility so she can go annoy him whenever he’s not training. She told me and the rest of the girls one night when she was drunk. She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but Alex never listens. For once, that’s working in my favor.

“How about you steal the card, and then we’ll come back to this.”

“Great,” I grab her hand. No vision. Interesting. “Let’s go.”

Christen gives me a knowing look, but I shake my head to tell her I didn’t see a memory. 

“You mean now?”

“Yeah.”

“School’s almost over.”

“And?”

“She hates you.”

“So?”

“How are you supposed to get it?”

“Allie still likes me.”

“Oh, so you’ve picked up a habit of using the people that still like you. Noted.”

“Chris, this is a desperate situation. I just need her for this one thing and that’s it.”

“Whatever Tobin.”

“Please come with me.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“My presence would just make it harder. Alex probably hates me more than you. I don’t even know how Allie feels about me.”

I squeeze her hand. “I need you.”

She gives me a look that I can’t quite pin down. Then she smiles shyly. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

Christen and I split up when we get to school to look for Allie and Alex. Worst case scenario is that we crash their cheerleading practice after school, but that would make talking to them harder. And I know from experience that getting Alex out of cheerleading captain mode is not possible once practice starts.

The halls are packed with kids rushing to their next class or talking against the lockers. I try to remember the girls’ schedules but my memory is jumbled from everything that’s happened since then. Right when I’m about to give up, I spot Alex and the girls saying goodbye to some guys and giggling to one another. I wait for them to all go their separate ways before I make my move.

I sneak up behind Allie and tap on her shoulder. She turns around. “Hey Tobin. What’s up?”

“Hey Allie. Nothing much." I talk to her about random things and gossip that used to seem more important than it does now. Then, I ease my way into the conversation that I want to have. "You know, I totally forgot that Alex has the extra keycard to my apartment and I kinda need it back. It’s probably in her backpack or something. Do you think you can take a look before cheerleading practice?”

“Why don’t you just text her? I mean I’m sure she doesn’t want it anymore, no offense, and she’ll probably throw it in your face, but she will give it back.”

“I really don’t want to talk to her Allie. She may hate me but I hate her too.”

“Fine I’ll ask her for it later.”

“No!” Allie looks at me with wide eyes. I rub the back of my neck awkwardly. “Just. . . can you look in her bag without her knowing? If you ask her then she will know we still talk and make you choose and. . . I don’t want to lose you,” I finish quietly.

Allie gives me a soft smile. “You won’t lose me, Tobs. I’ll look in her bag later. Total invasion of privacy, though, so you owe me.”

I relax, relieved that she agreed. “Cool cool, yeah of course. Thanks Allie.”

She gives me a smile and continues to her last period of the day. I text Christen that phase one of the plan was a success.

  
  


(A little while later)

  
  


Christen and I are hanging around the entrance of the locker room. Allie texted me a couple minutes ago and said she would look for the keycard while Alex was in the bathroom. Hopefully she doesn’t recognize it as the Rein keycard. Luckily, the card itself is pretty bland so people don’t know what it is. It doesn’t even have the Rein logo on it. For all anyone knows, Alex could have been flaunting her mom’s credit card.

“You really think she would just keep it in her backpack? Something as valuable as the keycard to Rein? She’s not stupid.”

“Christen, you don’t know her. Trust me, she would want to flaunt that keycard to everyone she makes eye contact with. She would want it somewhere accessible.”

“Seems like I don’t know anyone these days.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You didn’t even ask me how the interview at the police station went.”

“Shit, yeah sorry. Somehow I forgot. What happened?”

Christen rolls her eyes. “Of course anytime someone else has something going on it’s not important enough to remember.”

“It is important, Chris.” I grab her arm and make her look at me. “You’re important. I’m sorry. I know how nervous you were. You have all my attention.”

She looks down at my hand grabbing her arm. She doesn't pull away. “I did what we talked about. I said the truth and good things about you. It’s just. . .”

“What?”

She looks at me with watery eyes. “It is true, right? What I said? It’s true that you would never hurt anyone, right?”

I look at her confused. “Yeah Chris. Of course that’s true.” I narrow my eyes and drop my hand from her arm. “What did they say to you?”

Christen doesn’t get the opportunity to answer because she gets cut off by a loud “Hey!” that makes the rest of the locker room go silent. Girls start pouring out of the door to escape the scene that was being made inside.

I give Christen a worried look. That was Alex. This is not gonna end well.

“Allie, what are you doing going through my bag?”

“Sorry! I just needed some lip gloss and I thought you would have some. I shouldn’t have-”

“No you definitely shouldn’t have! That is my own personal shit and you need to stay out of it!”

“Alex chill! There are only clothes in here anyway. Not even Tobin’s-”

_ Shit. Cover blown. _

“What does Tobin have to do with this?” Alex asks quietly.

“Um, nothing! Forget I said anything. I’ll be good without the lip gloss,” Allie responds quickly.

I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in there, but I hear the rattle of lockers. I think Alex backed Allie into them. I need to stop this.

“What. Does. Tobin. Have. To. Do. With. This?”

I burst into the locker room with Christen on my heels. I was right. Allie is looking at me over Alex’s shoulder with scared eyes from against the lockers.

“Get away from her Alex. She’s not the one you’re mad at.”

Alex turns around slowly. “ I’m only gonna ask you this once. Why was Allie looking through my bag?”

Her fists are clenched at her side, knuckles white from gripping them so hard. She’s staring at me so intensely that it’s hard to not put my head down in shame and beg for forgiveness. But I’m on a mission. And I’m not the same girl she was friends with.

“You really think that Allie would want to be friends with me,  _ do anything for me, _ after my fight with you? She stayed by your side. She’s your friend, not mine. You are making yourself look like an idiot and a total asshole for even questioning her loyalty to you. You're only hurting yourself.”

“Fine. If you won’t tell me the reason,” she grabs Christen by the hair and pulls her out of my reach. “Then maybe she will.”

“Ow! What the fuck is your problem!” Alex has Christen’s hair in a death grip. The knuckles on the hand trapping her hair are as white as they were before.

Seeing Christen in pain sparks something in me that I didn’t even know existed. Before I even think it through, I’m on Alex in a flash, biting the arm holding Christen. Alex lets go with a yelp, and I use all my strength to push her back. Before I see where she lands, though, I’m hit with a vision.

**The cheering is deafening. It takes me a few seconds to realize where I am. It’s The Four ceremony. Except this time I’m not in the crowd. I’m backstage.**

**“Yes babe!” I hear next to me. Alex directs a double thumbs up to Servando, who is waiting for his turn to display his powers. “You can do it,” she whispers to herself.**

**Servando goes up and displays his mental powers. At first the crowd is confused, but then they cheer after Dr. Sauerbrunn’s explanation. Alex looked panicked at first, but now has a relieved smile on her face and is clapping excessively. The people actually working backstage continually give her glares throughout the ceremony. It seems like I’m not the only one who finds her intolerable.**

**The Four are taking a bow. I crane my next, quickly scanning the crowd for myself. I think I might catch a glimpse of my black beanie before I hear something creak. Suddenly, the beams are snapping, and the roof is falling on top of us. I jump out of the way, still too new at this to comprehend right away that I can’t get hurt in a memory. It takes a second for everyone else to register what’s happening. Alex doesn’t notice, too caught up in her happiness for her boyfriend. Someone pulls Alex out of the way. She falls on top of the woman that saved her but immediately gets back up.**

**“SERV,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. She yells it again and again. From this angle, it’s hard to see that Ashlyn Harris caught the roof just before it fell on The Four and broke the stage. For all Alex knows, Servando is dead. I can feel her dread.**

**Alex drops to her knees, crying hysterically. The same woman that pushed her bends down in front of Alex and explains what Ashlyn did and that Servando is not hurt. It takes a minute for Alex to actually listen, the woman’s words not registering over the loud sadness in her head.**

**I try not to, but I feel bad. Actually, I feel guilty. I could have killed Alex without even knowing that she was there. I hate the girl, and I never really wanted to be friends with her, but I can’t not admit that we formed a bond. I told her things about myself that I usually don’t even speak aloud. I could count on her, and then, I almost killed her.**

**She’s still crying hysterically, but now they are tears of relief. She gets up and moves to get a better view of the stage, where she could see Servando giving Ashlyn encouraging words. Alex breathes a sigh of relief and wipes her eyes.**

**After the roof is raised off Ashlyn’s shoulders, The Four talk with a distraught Dr. Sauerbrunn and then are dismissed. Servando runs to Alex and gathers her up in his arms. Alex begins sobbing again, saying how scared she was while Servando keeps reminding her that he's right there. If I didn’t not like them, I would say it’s a cute, touching moment. But I don’t like them, so the moment is contorted in my head as an over exaggeration to the whole thing.**

**Alex insists on going back to headquarters with him to “make sure my baby is okay,” and Servando replies with a kiss and a wink. I shudder.**

**I trail behind them until they get in a van to take them back to Rein Headquarters. I hop in the back next to Kelley O’Hara with Megan Rapinoe and Ashlyn Harris to my right, and Servando and Alex in front of me. Throughout the whole ride the couple whispers and giggles to each other. Kelley and Megan make fun of their “grossness” while Ashlyn swats their arms in annoyance, a barely noticeable smile on her face.**

**We arrive at headquarters, and I can feel the vision fading. I can feel the hard locker room floor on the bottom of my sneakers.** **_It’s about time, I feel like I’ve been in here forever._ **

**We all pile out of the van and head to the entrance. The Four members are buzzed into the building easily, but the door automatically shuts right as Alex is about to walk through.**

**“Swipe your keycard please,” a man on the intercom says. “Oh right! I thought you guys would know who I am by now,” Alex says cheekily and she grabs the bottom of her foot.**

**“What the hell is she doing?” I ask out loud. Apparently Servando had the same question.**

**“Chill babe, I keep my key in my shoe for safekeeping. So I always have it but it’s somewhere no one would think to look.”**

**Kelley makes a motion with her hands that mimics that her mind has been blown. Servando chuckles at her before focusing back on Alex. “Genius babe,” he says, linking elbows with her and leading her through the building.**

The first thing I see when I'm back to the present is Alex crumpled on the floor against the lockers. Not moving. Allie is there, shaking her. Christen comes up behind me. “Her head hit the lockers pretty hard. Passed out from it,” she whispers to me. I nod my head slowly. Allie looks up at us. “Tobin, what did you do? Look what you did! I know you were protecting Christen, but-”

“Allie, get to practice. You’re already late. We will call someone and take care of it. I at least owe her that.” Allie looks at me like she wants to disagree, but takes one look at my face and decides against it. She shoulders her bag. “We’re talking about this later.” Before I can answer, she pushes the door open and leaves.

The second the door closes I kneel down to Alex, removing her shoe. “Tobin, what the hell are you doing?”

“Just go get the nurse.” I stick my hand inside her sneaker but don’t feel anything. I start taking off the other one. Before Christen can ask what I’m doing again, I pull the keycard from the shoe triumphantly. “How did you know?”

“Had a vision when I pushed her.” Christen nods that she knew that all ready. I guess I look as disoriented after the visions as I feel. “Saw she keeps the keycard in her shoe.”

“Well it’s lucky you saw that one then.”

“Yeah. Lucky.” I reply quietly.

“I’ll get the nurse. Meet me outside. I don’t think you should be seen here, and I don’t want Alex waking up to you either.”

I nod. Christen leaves to go find the nurse, leaving me with an unconscious Alex. I put her shoes back on, slipping a plain black credit card in one of them to replace the keycard. It was Glennon's credit card. I try not to think about it.

Before I leave, I bend down so my mouth is by her ear. “Thanks Alex. You’ve been very helpful.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments?


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